fassen

grasp

verb FAH-sen Less Common

Also means

hold

Usage Note

fassen means to grasp physically, to comprehend mentally (Ich kann es nicht fassen, 'I can't believe it'), or to hold a capacity, as a container does. With sich it means to compose oneself: sich kurz fassen means to be brief. The separable zusammenfassen means to summarize.

Examples

"Er konnte es kaum fassen."

Natural Translation

He could hardly grasp it.

Literal Translation

He could it hardly grasp.

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