begegnen

From Middle High German begegenen, begagenen, from Old High German bigaganen, with prefix from Proto-West Germanic *gaginijan, from Proto-Germanic *gaginjaną; equivalent to be- +‎ gegnen (“encounter”) +‎ -en. Cognate with Dutch bejegenen.

• IPA^(key): /bəˈɡeː.ɡnən/ (prescriptive standard)

• IPA^(key): /bəˈɡeːk.nən/ (most common)
• IPA^(key): /beˈɡ̥eːɡ̥nɛn/ (Austria)
• IPA^(key): /bəˈɡeːç.nən/ (northern and central Germany; now chiefly colloquial)

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begegnen (weak, third-person singular present begegnet, past tense begegnete, past participle begegnet, auxiliary sein)

1. (intransitive) to meet, to encounter, to come across
2. to face, confront (fate, danger)

   Synonym: entgegentreten

3. to counter, to respond to
4. to handle (bad news, prospects)

   Synonyms: entgegenwirken, reagieren

Despite the initial prefix be-, which is usually a transitive verb marker (and thus indicates that the verb governs the accusative), the object of this verb is always in the dative case, because the encounter happens to both subject and object, and not to the object alone. Also, the auxiliary for this verb is sein rather than haben, since it implies a movement:

• Ich bin dem Lehrer in der Pause begegnet. ― I encountered/met the teacher during the break.

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• “begegnen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “begegnen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “begegnen” in Duden online
• “begegnen” in OpenThesaurus.de