Dutch

Noun

halten

1. Plural form of halte

German

Etymology

From Middle High German halten, from Old High German haltan, from Proto-Germanic *haldaną. Cognate with Dutch houden, Low German holden, holen, English hold, Danish holde, Icelandic halda, Swedish hålla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaltn̩/, /ˈhaltən/

Verb

halten ‎(class 7 strong, third-person singular simple present hält, past tense hielt, past participle gehalten, past subjunctive hielte, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive) to hold
2. (transitive) to stop; to halt; to hold back

   Haltet den Dieb!‎

   Stop the thief!

3. (transitive) to support; to hold up
4. (transitive) to keep; to maintain; to hold

   Der Wein hält mich jung.‎

   Wine keeps me young.

5. (transitive, of animals) to keep
   • 2012 June 21, Die Welt , page 22:

     In der Sahara haben prähistorische Bewohner schon vor 7000 Jahren Milchvieh gehalten.

     In the Sahara, prehistoric inhabitants kept diary cattle already 7000 years ago.

6. (intransitive) to hold; to keep; to stay
7. (intransitive) to stop

   Der Zug hält nicht in Würzburg.‎

   The train doesn’t stop in Würzburg.

8. (transitive, with preposition für) to consider, to regard
   • 2010, Der Spiegel, issue 32/2010, page 45:

     Wieder einmal hatte es erhitzte Debatten gegeben zwischen Tierschützern und solchen, die Stierkampf für ein schützenswertes Kulturerbe Spaniens halten.

     Once again there had been heated debates between animal rights activists and ones who consider bullfighting a cultural heritage of Spain worth protecting.

9. (reflexive, with preposition: an) to adhere (to)
   • 2010, Der Spiegel, issue 46/2010, page 103:

     Die boomende Branche privater Sicherheitsfirmen will sich künftig an strengere Regeln in Krisenregionen halten.

     The booming sector of private security companies wants to adhere to stricter rules in crisis regions in the future.

10. (with preposition: von) expresses a positive or negative opinion depending on quantity

    Ich halte viel von Dieter.‎

    I like Dieter a lot.

    Ich halte wenig von Tomaten.‎

    I do not like tomatoes very much.

Conjugation

Derived terms