rât

Rät is the third-person singular present tense form of the German verb raten. The verb has two main senses in modern German: to advise someone to do something, and to guess or infer something based on information. The exact meaning is determined by context.

In the sense of giving advice, raten means to recommend or urge someone to take a course of action. It is commonly used with a dative object and an infinitive clause: Er rät mir, früh aufzustehen. Das Unternehmen rät den Mitarbeitern, das Angebot zu prüfen. The form rät is used with "er" (he) or with other subjects in present tense as appropriate.

In the sense of guessing or predicting, raten can express an attempt to infer something that is not certain. This use often appears with a clause introduced by dass or with a direct assertion about a future outcome: Der Experte rät, dass der Kurs steigen wird. It can also appear in questions like Was rät er dir? to ask what someone thinks will happen.

Conjugation in the present tense is: ich rate, du rätst, er rät, wir raten, ihr ratet, sie raten. The pronunciation of rät features a long a sound, and the form changes reflect the German umlaut pattern in the du and er forms. Etymologically, raten derives from the German verb raten, related to advice and estimation, and shares roots with related Germanic verbs for counsel and inference.