unterbringen

Unterbringen is a German transitive verb meaning to provide lodging or accommodation for someone, to house or shelter someone, or to place something somewhere, including storing it or fitting it into a space or schedule. It can refer to temporary or longer-term arrangements and can also be used metaphorically to mean fitting an item into a plan or system.

Grammatically, unterbringen is a separable-prefix verb. In the present tense, forms include ich bringe unter, du bringst unter, er/sie/es bringt unter, wir bringen unter, ihr bringt unter, sie bringen unter. In the perfect tense it uses haben + untergebracht (Ich habe ihn untergebracht). The reflexive form sich unterbringen means to stay somewhere temporarily (Wir haben uns bei Freunden untergebracht). The past participle is untergebracht, and the prefix is commonly separated in main clauses (Wir bringen den Gast unter; Wir bringen das Paket unter).

Usage and contexts

The primary sense is lodging someone: Wir haben die Gäste gut untergebracht. It can also mean to place or accommodate something, such as arranging a room, apartment, or space for items or people (Wir haben das neue Teammitglied in einem Büro untergebracht). Another common use is to fit something into a schedule or space: Wir konnten eine zusätzliche Sitzung in den Terminplan unterbringen. The noun form, Unterbringung, refers to accommodation or placement, for example in housing, refugee support, or organizational contexts.

Related notes

Unterbringen contrasts with intransitive verbs like unterkommen, which mean to come to or to manage to find lodging. The verb can also be used with sich unterbringen to describe personal lodging arrangements, as in Wir haben uns bei Freunden untergebracht.