wenden

Wenden is a German verb meaning to turn, to change direction, or to turn toward something. It can be used transitively (to turn something) or intransitively (to turn). In reflexive use, sich wenden means to turn oneself or to turn toward someone or something, with common idioms such as sich an jemanden wenden (to address/contact someone) or sich einer Sache zuwenden (to devote oneself to something).

In the present tense, wenden is conjugated as: ich wende, du wendest, er wendet, wir wenden, ihr wendet, sie wenden. The simple past is wendete (also wandte in some varieties): ich wendete, du wendetest, er wendete, wir wendeten, ihr wendetet, sie wendeten. The past participle is gewandt, and the perfect tense is formed with haben: ich habe mich gewandt (or ich habe mich an jemanden gewandt). In many expressions, wenden appears with a reflexive pronoun, for example sich wenden an jdn (to turn to someone) or sich einer Sache zuwenden (to turn one’s attention to something).

Common usage includes literal turning, as in “Der Fahrer wendet den Wagen nach rechts,” and figurative senses such as “Er wendet sich dem Thema zu” (he turns to the topic) or “Die Politik wendet sich der Stabilisierung zu.” The noun die Wende (capitalized) refers to a turning or change, most notably to a historical turning point in German history (the Wende of 1989–1990, the reunification era).

Toponymically, Wenden is the name of a municipality in Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia). Historically, Wenden also referred to West Slavic peoples living in eastern parts of Europe, a term now largely of historical or scholarly use.