Gewöhnt

Gewöhnt is the past participle of the German verb gewöhnen, meaning to accustom or habituate. It is used in the phrase sich gewöhnen an something to indicate that someone has become accustomed to that thing. The construction is common in everyday speech and writing.

Usage and grammar

In perfect tenses, gewöhnt is used with the auxiliary haben: Ich habe mich daran gewöhnt. Example: Wir haben uns schnell an die neue Umgebung gewöhnt. In the present tense, the verb takes the normal conjugation of gewöhnen: ich gewöhne mich, du gewöhnst dich, er gewöhnt sich, etc. The participle gewöhnt carries the umlaut on the root and appears in phrases such as sich gewöhnt zu haben or sich daran gewöhnt zu haben.

Distinction from similar forms

German also uses геwohnt (without umlaut) as the past participle of wohnen and as an adjective meaning “used to” or “accustomed.” The predicative adjective form is typically geWohnt (without the umlaut) in phrases like Ich bin es gewohnt (I am used to it). The form gewöhnt, with the umlaut, is specifically the participle of gewöhnen and occurs mainly in compound tenses, not as a predicative adjective.

Related terms

The noun Gewöhnung refers to habituation or acclimatization, and Gewohnheit means habit. Both share the same semantic root as gewöhnen.

Etymology

Gewöhnen derives from the prefix ge- plus a root related to habituation. The related noun Gewohnheit and the term Gewöhnung reflect the general concept of becoming accustomed.

See also

Sich gewöhnen; Gewöhnung; Gewohnheit; difference between gewöhnen/gewöhnt and wohnen/gewohnt.