Erzählen

Erzählen is a German verb meaning to tell, narrate, or recount. It denotes the act of communicating information, a story, or an experience to someone else, or reporting what happened. The verb can introduce direct speech or embedded content, and it is commonly used with direct objects such as eine Geschichte, ein Erlebnis, or with a subordinate clause headed by dass or was. It is often contrasted with berichten (to report) or schildern (to describe in detail).

Etymology and development: Erzählen is formed with the prefix er- added to the verb zählen (to count or, in the sense of narrating, to recount). The sense of recounting a story developed in the history of German. The prefix er- in this verb family typically marks completion or a shift in aspect.

Conjugation and usage: In the present tense the forms are ich erzähle, du erzählst, er erzählt, wir erzählen, ihr erzählt, sie erzählen. The Präteritum (simple past) is ich erzählte, du erzähltest, er erzählte, wir erzählten, ihr erzähltet, sie erzählten. The Perfect is formed with haben: ich habe erzählt, du hast erzählt, er hat erzählt, etc. Imperative forms are erzähle (du), erzählt (ihr), erzählen Sie. Erzählen takes a direct object for the content told (eine Geschichte) and may take a dative indirect object for the listener (ich erzähle dir eine Geschichte). Phrases such as von etwas erzählen or über etwas erzählen indicate telling about something.

Related terms: Erzählung (narrative, tale), Erzähler (narrator), Erzählkunst (storytelling). Audio, film, and literary contexts distinguish between telling a story, reporting facts, and depicting scenes, but erzählen remains the broad verb for recounting in spoken German.