German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German hoffen (12th c.), from northern Old High German *hoffōn, from Proto-West Germanic *hopōn. It is uncertain whether the (unattested but probable) Old High German form was inherited or rather borrowed from Old Dutch hopon with implementation of the High German consonantism (which was then still entirely predictable). In fact, some scholars consider that all continental forms go back to Old English hopian, introduced as a religious term by Anglo-Saxon missionaries. The word was at any rate absent from Upper German, where it only established itself in later Middle High German, gradually displacing the now obsolete gedingen. See English hope for more.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈhɔfən/, [ˈhɔ.fən], [-fn̩], [-fɱ̍]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: hof‧fen

Verb

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hoffen (weak, third-person singular present hofft, past tense hoffte, past participle gehofft, auxiliary haben)

  1. (intransitive) to hope [with auf (+ accusative) ‘for something’]
    Ich hoffe auf eine vollständige Heilung.
    I hope for a complete cure.

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • hoffen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • hoffen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • hoffen” in Duden online
  • hoffen” in OpenThesaurus.de

Luxembourgish

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Etymology

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From Middle High German hoffen, eventually from Proto-West Germanic *hopōn. The Luxembourgish form would require an anomalous Middle High German *huffen, which is possible since the word was originally rare in High German and is even thought to be an early borrowing from Low Franconian or Saxon. However, it is perhaps more likely that the modern vocalism is due to influence by German hoffen (given the word’s frequent use in religious contexts).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈhofen/, [ˈhofən]

Verb

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hoffen (third-person singular present hofft, past participle gehofft, auxiliary verb hunn)

  1. to hope

Conjugation

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Regular
infinitive hoffen
participle gehofft
auxiliary hunn
present
indicative
imperative
1st singular hoffen
2nd singular hoffs hoff
3rd singular hofft
1st plural hoffen
2nd plural hofft hofft
3rd plural hoffen
(n) or (nn) indicates the Eifeler Regel.

Derived terms

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Welsh

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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hoffen (not mutable)

  1. inflection of hoffi:
    1. first-person plural conditional colloquial
    2. third-person plural conditional colloquial