führe

Führe is a form of the German verb führen, which means to lead, guide, conduct, or operate. As a finite verb form, it appears in several grammatical contexts, most often as the first-person present singular ich führe (I lead) and as the Konjunktiv I form used in indirect speech. It can also function as the second-person singular imperative in some constructions in the sense of “lead!” or “conduct!” The exact interpretation depends on mood, tense, and sentence context.

Grammatically, führen is a regular verb in modern German with a stem that includes umlaut in certain present-tense forms: ich führe, du führst, er führt, wir führen, ihr führt, sie führen. The form führe specifically is the first-person present indicative and the Konjunktiv I form for ich and he/she forms. The noun derived from the verb is Führung, meaning leadership or guided tour, among other senses.

Etymology traces führen to Old High German fūren, with cognates in other West Germanic languages such as Dutch voeren. The root conveys the sense of bringing, carrying, or directing, which broadened in German to include leading people, actions, or operations. In modern usage, führen appears in contexts such as a person leading a team (Ich führe ein Team), a company being led (Wir führen ein Unternehmen), or a guided tour (eine Führung durch das Museum).

Common phrases include die Führung (leadership or guided tour), jemanden führen (to lead someone), and sich führen (to conduct oneself). There is also the fixed expression jemanden an der Nase herumführen, meaning to lead someone on or to deceive someone. The term Führer, while sharing the same root, carries strong historical connotations in German and is typically reserved for historical or formal contexts referring to leadership titles.