Schämst

Schämst is the second-person singular present tense form of the German verb schämen. The core meaning of schämen is to feel shame or to cause someone else to feel shame. In everyday use the reflexive form sich schämen is far more common, meaning to feel shame oneself.

The standard present tense forms are: ich schäme mich, du schämst dich, er/sie/es schämt sich, wir schämen uns, ihr schämt euch, sie schämen sich. The imperative is Schäm dich! For expressing being ashamed of something, the reflexive construction sich schämen with a preposition like für is used: Ich schäme mich für mein Verhalten.

Etymology and related terms: schämen originates from Old High German scāman and is related to the English word shame. The noun Scham shares the same root. Related adjectives and verbs exist in German to describe related ideas, such as peinlich (embarrassing) or beschämen (to shame someone).

Usage notes: The reflexive form sich schämen is the typical way to express personal shame, as in Ich schäme mich dafür. The form du schämst dich is common in conversation. The non-reflexive sense, schämen someone (jemanden schämen), does occur but is less frequent in modern colloquial German; it emphasizes causing shame in another person and often appears in more formal or literary contexts.

In sum, schämst is the second-person present form used in the verb schämen, most commonly within the reflexive phrase sich schämen, which denotes feeling shame, with the phrase Schäm dich as a direct admonition.