überwindet

Überwindet is the third-person singular present tense form of the German verb überwinden, which means to overcome, to surmount, or to get past something. The verb is transitive and is used for both physical obstacles and non-physical challenges such as fears, doubts, or difficulties. Common collocations include Hindernisse überwinden, Krisen überwinden, and Angst überwinden.

In everyday usage, überwinden describes the action of conquering a barrier, often with effort or persistence. Examples: Der Läufer überwindet die Hindernisse. Die Mannschaft überwindet schwere Krisen. Durch Geduld überwindet er die Schwierigkeiten. The form also appears in idiomatic phrases like etwas überwinden or Ärger überwinden, depending on context.

Grammatical notes: überwinden is a non-separable prefix verb. Its past participle is überwunden, used with haben to form the perfect: Sie hat die Schwierigkeiten überwunden. The verb’s other finite forms follow standard German conjugation patterns for strong verbs, with ich überwinde, du überwindest, er überwindet, wir überwinden, ihr überwindet, sie überwinden.

Etymology and related terms: überwinden combines the prefix über- with the verb winden (to wind or twist) in a way that evolved into the figurative sense of getting over or past something. Related verbs include bewältigen (to cope with) and übersteigen (to surpass), which convey related notions of overcoming or exceeding limits in different nuances.