sitzen bleiben

German

Alternative forms

Etymology

Literally, to stay sitting. The school sense is from situations where proceeding to the next year meant going to another classroom or row of seats. The marriage sense is from the notion of not being picked, e.g. at a dance. Compare Dutch blijven zitten.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈzɪtsən ˌblaɪ̯bən/, [ˈzɪ.t͡sn̩ ˌblaɪ̯.bm̩], [-b(ə)n], (southern also) [ˈsɪ-], [ˈsi-]
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

sitzen bleiben (class 1 strong, third-person singular present bleibt sitzen, past tense blieb sitzen, past participle sitzen geblieben, auxiliary sein) (intransitive)

  1. to remain seated, to keep one’s seat
    Bleib sitzen! Ich komme zu dir rüber.
    Keep your seat! I’m coming over to you.
  2. (e.g. of a blemish) to stick, to remain in people’s memory
    Synonym: hängen bleiben (an)
    Dieser Ruf wird immer auf ihm sitzen bleiben.
    This reputation will always stick to him.
  3. to be left with, to be sitting on (find no customer or purpose for something)
    Die Händler sind auf ihren Waren sitzen geblieben.
    The traders have been left with their products.
  4. (education) to have to repeat a year, to flunk, to stay down
    Wenn man nur Sechsen auf dem Zeugnis hat, bleibt man sitzen.
    When you have nothing but F’s on your report card, you have to repeat a year.
  5. (dated, of women) to remain unmarried, become a spinster, be left on the shelf
    Obwohl sie durchaus hübsch war, hatte sie immer Angst, sitzen zu bleiben.
    Even though she was quite pretty, she was always afraid of being left on the shelf.
  6. (regional, of yeast dough) not to prove, not to rise
    Ihm war der Rührkuchen sitzen geblieben.
    His sponge cake had not proven.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading