“To Bestand”
Hello everyone,
final stretch of this years Advent Calendar and today, behind door 20 is one last preview into the book I will be planning to start resuming working on in 2020.
Kidding. It’s about time and I vow I will get it out there, no matter how half assed it is. Because if it’s good enough for politics, then it is sure good enough for me.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
and with that little jab out of the way, let’s take a look at the meanings and workings of ….
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bestehen
Stehen means to stand but we’d better get comfy cause this will take a while. Placement verbs are always a bit of a pain but this one is as rife with meanings as an apple tree in fall.
The best way to approach it is boring, dusty Latin. In particular the word “sistere”. “Sistere” expressed the idea to (take a) stand and the stem “sist” is part of many English words like insist or exist.
How does that help with bestehen? Well, bestehen, in combination with various prepositions, just happens to be a translation for not all but many of them.
Here they are:
bestehen – exist, or better: be in existence
Works best with abstract things like organizations, regulations or friendships but can also be used for buildings. Not for small items like a car or a camera though. Those are just not massive enough.
bestehen aus – to consist of.
Used mainly for material.
bestehen auf – to insist, to make a stand
Note that you have to insist on something in German, you cannot just insist.
bestehen (+accusative) – to prevail for any kind of test or challenge.
The connection here is “to persist”. This meaning is especially common in context of tests and exams.
A more visual approach would be that old pose of triumph. The knight puts his foot on the slain dragon.
He literally “inflicts standing”. The knight is you, the dragon is the test on adjective endings.
Looking at all these, we can see that in German, it’s the preposition that defines the meaning, in English it’s the prefix. But the core idea is always standing in the sense of being in place.
- Ich habe den Test bestanden.
- I passed the test.
- Ich bestehe auf einem Re-Fill.
- I insist on a refill.
- Okay, wenn du darauf bestehst.
- Fine, if you insist.
- Mein Pullover besteht zu hundert Prozent aus Stein.
- My pullover is made a hundred percent from stone.
(and this example is clearly doesn’t “bestehen aus” sense ;)
- Der Ponyverein feiert 100-jähriges Bestehen.
- The pony club celebrates its 100th anniversary.
related words:
der Bestand – the stock, the inventory, the continued existence; the idea is “What’s there”
beständig – steady, consistent, stable
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Let me know in the comments, if you have any questions.
Have a great day and bis morgen :)
Hi,
Don’t wanna be a Grinch, but here are the typos:
“resumming” (resuming)
“as an an apple tree” (one “an”)
So is “bestehen zu” used as “bestehen aus”, but for small things, like the Pulli in your example?
Bis morgen!
It’s still “bestehen aus,” it’s just that it’s split up by “zu hundert Prozent.” The “aus” has to be there, but it’s free to move around a little. The most important information in the sentence is, what is the sweater made of (aus Stein), so that goes to the end. How much of that material the sweater is made of is kind of interesting, but we could leave it out, so it comes earlier (zu 100%, zu 50%, etc.). It’s a similar idea to a separable verb with the preposition going all the way to the end. Except here the preposition has to answer a question (what is it made of), so the preposition is second to last and the most important piece of information is, as usual, dead last. Even if the sweater is made of something less shocking than stone.
English is just different because the preposition wants to stick very tightly to the verb. “Made of” is a whole unit and nothing can come between the pieces. So it can feel kind of unnatural to divide them at first, but it’s fun to play around with once you get used to it.
Got it, thanks!
Ah, I didn’t see your answer before I typed mine. Yours is much better :).
Not to undercut your well-posed insights, but I believe that what Emanuel was referring to was that the idea of a sweater made of 100% stone was nonsensical, not the appearance of the preposition “zu” instead of “aus” which, as you pointed out, eventually makes its appearance.
No, “bestehen zu” doesn’t really exist on its own.
Maybe you meant this:
– Der Pullover besteht zu 100% aus Wolle.
the “zu 100%” is an attachement to the verb “bestehen aus”
I also heard of ‘bestehen in’, which is sort of ‘bestehen aus’, but for abstract concepts.
True, that also exists, but it’s kind of rare.
– Die Herausforderung besteht darin, ….
It’s as you said NOT used for actual material.
I think “lies in” is a good match for “bestehen in”
Really interesting, and the examples make the functions memorable.
Freut mich :)!!
The wisdom of Turtles is here
Ich bestehe darauf, dass Einhörner bestehen, Und sie nicht auf kinder Träume bestehen. Sie haben gegangen Herausforderungen bestanden
Notes
Is not “sein aus” or just aus more idiomatic than bestehen auf.
The first sentence is good :). The second one (Sie haben gegangen…) is an incomprehensible disaster. Turtles, I resummon you to do it again!
“sein aus” for material can sound a bit clumsy sometimes, but in everyday contexts it’s fine. Like… I would say the pullover IST not BESTEHT if I am talking about the fabric.
Would using “gegen” instead of the horrible gegangen work. I pulled, bestehen gegen out of nowhere
Ich möchte ein nützliches Wort dieser Familie suggerieren, nämlich, Gegenstand (m) . Zum Beispiel Gegenstand einer Klage vor eines Gericht.
“suggerieren” is nicht wie “suggest”. Nimm mal immer “vorschlagen”.
Über Gegenstand hab’ ich schon in dem Artikel über “gegen” geredet :)
https://yourdailygerman.com/gegen-meaning-gegenteil-gegenwart/
Thanks! This one gives me a better Gefühl for the “Ich habe bestanden” in regards to exams. Obviously, everyone that passes says this with a whoop whoop but now I know it’s more about prevailing than simply getting a passing grade. It really is all about feeling, isn’t it?
Yeah, if you feel like you passed, then you did pass :). Law of Attraction. Be the smith of your reality.
Schönheit vergeht, Hektar besteht.
Are you promoting marriage into a wealthy family :D?
Nice, I liked this one.
I apologise for Brexit. I am ashamed to be British.
Then emigrate elsewhere, traitor
Come on, just because one disagrees with something their country does, that doesn’t make them traitors.
@ roger: me too!
@roger: me three!
Okay guys and ladies… this is really not the place for politics, usually, but since it’s the calendar I’ll do what I want and confront statements :).
To whom do you apologise? And why are you feeling ashamed?
(Disclaimer: I don’t want to debate the politics, I just felt a little put of by the wording because the way you phrased it is two things:
a) an expression of dislike/emotions
b) AND a trigger for the other side
You could have just said “I really hate it that Britain leaves.”
Not trying to word-police either, I’m just really curious how discussions online go out of hand really quickly. It didn’t do that here because the critical mass is missing (and Russian trolls, of course. Gotta have Russian trolls).
How about My pullover consists of a hundred percent…true to the sistere root.
Ah, better :)!
great little piece, could even call it beautiful
Oh wow, vielen Dank :)
Guten Morgen und danke vielmals fuer die emails. Sie sind sehr lustig und informative. Aber zu meine Frage. . wie sagt man “I insist (in the nicest possible way of course) on paying for the coffee/meal”?
Ich bestehe auf den Kaffee bezahlen?
Ich bestehe auf bezahlen, den Kaffee?
Ich kann nicht entscheiden..der erste Satz scheint mir grammatisch besser aber der zweite gibt mehr Betonung auf ‘bezahlen’..
Beide Sätze sind falsch. Diese Formulierung funktioniert in DEutsch fast NIE.
Du musst sagen:
– Ich bestehe darauf, den Kaffee zu bezahlen.
vielen Dank ich werde das alles merken!