verstirbst

Verstirbst is the second-person singular present tense form of the German verb versterben, a prefixed variant of sterben meaning to die or perish. The verb versterben denotes dying or passing away, often used of people or things that are coming to an end. Verstirbst is therefore the form used with the subject du in older or more literary registers; in everyday modern German, speakers more commonly use the present tense forms of sterben, such as stirbst, or use phrasing that avoids the du form.

In modern standard usage, verstirbst is considered archaic or poetic and is typically encountered in historical texts, religious poetry, or stylistic writing. The more common past participle form is verstorben, used as an adjective or as the past participle with sein in the present perfect: du bist verstorben. The noun form Der Verstorbene refers to the deceased person and is used in obituary and memorial contexts.

Etymology: versterben is built from ver- plus sterben, with cognates in related Germanic languages; the prefix ver- here does not map directly to a single modern meaning but has become part of the fixed lexical item versterben. Verstirbst, as its present-tense second-person form, reflects historical and literary conjugation patterns that continue to be recognized by grammarians and in older texts.