stürzt

Stürzt is the third-person singular present tense form of the German verb stürzen. The verb has several related meanings, most often referring to a sudden downward movement, but it can also describe collapse, overthrow, or a rapid decline in value.

In its basic sense, stürzen means to fall or plunge downward, often abruptly. This can refer to a person or object losing balance and dropping. It can also describe something collapsing, such as a building or structure, for example: Das Gebäude stürzt ein. In finance or transport, stürzen indicates a sharp drop or crash, as in Der Aktienkurs stürzt ab.

Stürzen can also be used in a figurative sense to denote overthrow or toppling of someone in power, and with political contextsonen it is common to hear: Die Regierung stürzt. The reflexive form sich stürzen expresses a sense of plunging into something eagerly or recklessly, as in Sie stürzt sich in die Arbeit.

Conjugation and usage notes: In the present indicative, the form is ich stürze, du stürzt, er stürzt, wir stürzen, ihr stürzt, sie stürzen. The past participle is gestürzt. For intransitive uses involving movement (he fell, the house collapsed), the auxiliary verb is usually sein: Er ist gestürzt. For transitive uses where something is toppled by someone, haben is possible: Er hat den Gegner gestürzt. Prefix forms exist as well, such as hinunterstürzen (“to tumble down”) or ab stürzen in phrases like stürzt ab.

See also: Sturz (fall), Sturzflug, Stürze.