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German verb · CEFR B1

bestehen

Meaning in English: pass (an exam); exist; consist

Rank 877 of 5,000verbLevel B14 forms in the list
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Example

Ich hoffe, ich werde die Prüfung bestehen.

I hope I'll pass the exam.

Forms of bestehen in the top 5,000

German verbs change their ending with the person and tense, and each form is counted on its own. These forms of bestehen are also in the top 5,000:

besteht#358
consists; existsB1

Das Menü besteht aus drei Gängen.
The menu consists of three courses.

bestand#2,230
existed; consisted; passed (exam)B2

Das Frühstück bestand nur aus Kaffee und Toast.
Breakfast consisted only of coffee and toast.

bestanden#4,757
passed (exam); existedA2

Hast du die Führerscheinprüfung bestanden?
Did you pass your driving test?

How common is bestehen?

bestehen is number 877 of the 5,000 most common German words. In the texts the list is counted from it appears 101 times per million words — about once every 9,900 words. Its most frequent form is besteht (#358).

Know every word down to this one and you recognise about 63% of the words in an ordinary German text. B1 means an intermediate word, typical of the B1 exam.

Related words in the list

Words built on bestehen:

Next to it in the frequency list

  1. 873die Webseiteweb page, website
  2. 874gefördertfunded, supported, promoted
  3. 875die Verbindungconnection
  4. 876sonstotherwise, else; usually
  5. 877bestehenpass (an exam); exist; consist
  6. 878die Partei(political) party
  7. 879ganzenwhole, entire
  8. 880ersterfirst
  9. 881IsraelIsrael

In these word lists

Translations, levels and examples were written with AI help and are awaiting review by a native speaker — how the list was made.