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sitzenbleiben

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: sitzen bleiben

German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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sitzen +‎ bleiben, literally to remain seated

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈzɪt͡sn̩ˌblaɪ̯bn̩/, [ˈzɪt͡sn̩ˌblaɪ̯bm̩][1]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: sit‧zen‧blei‧ben

Verb

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sitzenbleiben (class 1 strong, third-person singular present bleibt sitzen, past tense blieb sitzen, past participle sitzengeblieben, auxiliary sein)

  1. (informal) to stay down, be held back (to repeat a school year, not having been moved up a class/grade)
    Sie ist keinmal sitzengeblieben.
    She has never stayed down/been held back.
    (literally, “She has never remained sitting.”)
  2. (informal) (dated) to be left on the shelf (to remain unmarried as a woman)
    Jede Eltern hoffen, dass ihre Töchter nicht sitzenbleiben.
    Every parents hope that their daughters won′t be left on the shelf.
  3. (informal) to be left with, to be sitting on (to find no customer for something)
    Die Händler waren auf ihre Waren sitzengeblieben.
    The traders have been left with their products.
  4. to be tarnished by, to be a black mark against someone′s name
    ein Makel, ein Vorwurf bleibt auf jemandem sitzen
    someone is tarnished by a blemish, an accusation
    (literally, “a blemish, an accusation remains sitting against someone”)
  5. (regional) to not prove, to not rise (to not become aerated by the action of yeast) (of dough)
    Ihm war der Rührkuchen sitzengeblieben.
    His sponge cake had not proven.

Usage notes

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  • In this spelling the verb is exclusively used in the figurative sense. In the above-mentioned alternative spelling it is used in the literal as well as in the figurative sense.[2]
  • The spelling sitzenbleiben has been an optional spelling since the German spelling reform of 1996 (the Rechtschreibreform) as of 2006.

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ In Standard German the pronunciation of the verbal ending -en after /b/ is varying, whereas [-bm̩] is generally more frequently used. (Max Mangold and Dudenredaktion: Duden Aussprachewörterbuch. In: Der Duden in zwölf Bänden. 6th edition. Volume 6, Dudenverlag, Mannheim/Leipzig/Wien/Zürich 2005, →ISBN, p. 38.)
  2. ^ sitzenbleiben” in Duden online

Further reading

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