Darstellen

Darstellen is a German verb that means to depict, present, or portray something; it can also mean to represent or stand for something, and in visual or technical contexts to display or render it. The sense varies from artistic portrayal to factual presentation or data visualization. It can refer to presenting a scene or character in a play, to describing a situation in prose, or to showing information in a graphic or on a screen.

In use, darzustellen is common in several contexts. In the arts, one speaks of jemanden oder eine Figur darstellen to portray a person or a fictional character. In writing or speeches, man kann den Sachverhalt darstellen to present the facts clearly. In visual media and computing, eine Grafik oder eine Tabelle stellt Daten dar or etwas wird grafisch dargestellt to show or render information. The verb often collocates with nouns like Darstellung (depiction/representation) or Darstellung einer Situation.

The noun form Darstellung refers to the act or result of presenting or depicting something. Related verbs include abbilden (to map or depict correctly), veranschaulichen (to illustrate), and darstellen in stricter sense. The expression and nuance depend on context: darstellen emphasizes representation or portrayal, while veranschaulichen emphasizes clarification or illustration, and darstellen can also mean to display in a user interface or document.

Conjugation and form notes: darzustellen is used with the usual conjugation pattern of a regular verb with the prefix dar-. The present tense forms include ich/du/er stellt dar, wir stellen dar, ihr stellt dar, sie/Sie stellen dar. The past participle is dargestellt, and the auxiliary with perfect tense is hat dargestellt.