wählt

Wählt is a German verb with two primary meanings: to choose and to vote. In general use it denotes selecting one option among several or casting a ballot in an election. The form wählt appears in the present tense for the third person singular (er/sie/es wählt) and in the second person plural for ihr wählt. It is also used in the imperative as Wählt! (you all choose or vote).

usage and sense

In everyday language, wählen describes making a choice, for example: Wir wählten eine Farbe, um das Zimmer neu zu gestalten. In political contexts it means to participate in an election or to cast a vote: Die Bürger wählen heute ihren Bürgermeister. The related noun Wahl refers to the act of choosing or the election itself, as in die Wahl gewinnen (to win the election) or eine Wahl treffen (to make a choice).

grammar and forms

Wählen is conjugated with a stem vowel alternation in the present tense: ich wähle, du wählst, er/sie/es wählt; wir wählen, ihr wählt, sie/Sie wählen. The past tense forms include ich wählte, du wähltest, er wählte; the past participle is gewählt, used with haben (haben gewählt). The verb can be used transitively (etwas wählen) or intransitively in the sense of participating in a vote (an der Wahl teilnehmen).

etymology and related terms

The verb bildet the basis for the noun Wahl (choice, election) and is rooted in the Germanic family of languages, sharing the semantic core of making a selection. In related Germanic languages, cognate terms exist for the idea of choosing or electing, though exact forms differ across languages.