Definition
A male person who steals property belonging to someone else.
Translations
- English
- thief
- Français
- voleur
- Türkçe
- hırsız
- Polski
- złodziej
- Русский
- вор
- Українська
- злодій
GERMAN DICTIONARY
der Dieb
- B1
- Noun
- Society & Public Life
- Services & Everyday Tasks
thief
/deːɐ̯ diːp/
Meaning and translations
Meaning, definition and translations of this sense.
Grammar & classification
Main grammatical and classification properties of the word.
- Article
- der
- Gender
- Masculine
- Plural
- Diebe
- Part of speech
- Noun
- CEFR level
- B1
- Morphology
- Simple word
- Topics
- Society & Public LifePrimaryServices & Everyday Tasks
Usage examples
Examples showing real usage and grammatical forms.
- Der Dieb stahl einer Reisenden die Tasche.NominativSing.The thief stole a traveler's bag.
- Die Polizei konnte den Dieb kurz nach der Tat festnehmen.AkkusativSing.The police were able to arrest the thief shortly after the crime.
- Die Polizei gab dem Dieb eine letzte Warnung.DativSing.The police gave the thief one final warning.
- Die Tasche des Diebs lag auf dem Tisch.GenitivSing.The thief's bag was lying on the table.
- Diebe handeln oft heimlich.NominativPlur.Thieves often operate secretly.
- Die Ermittler suchten die Diebe in der ganzen Stadt.AkkusativPlur.The investigators searched for the thieves throughout the city.
- Die Polizei folgte den Dieben bis zum Stadtrand.DativPlur.The police followed the thieves to the outskirts of the city.
- Die Aussagen der Diebe widersprachen sich.GenitivPlur.The thieves' statements contradicted each other.
Pronunciation and forms
Pronunciation and audio for the lemma and important forms.
-
Lemma
Dieb/diːp/
-
Article phrase
der Dieb/deːɐ̯ diːp/
-
Plural
Diebe/ˈdiːbə/
Declension / Forms
How the noun changes across German cases and singular or plural.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | der Dieb | die Diebe |
| Akkusativ | den Dieb | die Diebe |
| Dativ | dem Dieb | den Dieben |
| Genitiv | des Diebs | der Diebe |
Usage and collocations
Typical constructions, prepositions and word combinations.
- Collocationeinen Dieb fassen
- Adjective combinationein gefährlicher Dieb
- Verb constructionden Dieb festnehmen + Akkusativ
- Sentence patternDer Dieb flieht durch die enge Gasse.
Semantic relations
How this meaning relates to other meanings and easily confused words.
- Narrower termTaschendieb
- Broader termMensch — human being
- Narrower termEinbrecher — male burglar
A Dieb is broader in scope: they steal without entering a building; a Einbrecher typically acts as a Dieb.
Word formation and word family
How the word is formed and its reviewed lexical family.
Formation typeSimple word
„Dieb“ is a simple noun with no productively recognizable compound or derivation.
Word family
- Diebin