Why do I need to know einbilden?

Einbilden a word that you’re likely to hear coming out of your German friends’ mouths on a regular basis, and which describes a fairly common scenario.

It’s also a great excuse to practice your separable and reflexive verbs, and contains a root verb that German learners just can’t do without. 

What does it mean?

Used in the reflexive form, sich einbilden (pronounced like this) has multiple shades of meaning that all relate to deluding yourself in some way. 

In its most neutral use, sich etwas einbilden means to imagine something or be convinced of something that isn’t true.

When someone could have sworn they had a conversation with you that never actually took place, they may say doubtfully: “Vielleicht habe ich mir das nur eingebildet”, meaning: “Maybe I just imagined it.”

If you already know the word imagined as sich vorstellen, then it’s worth thinking of sich einbilden as vorstellen’s badly behaved brother. While vorstellen involves having some imaginative and empathetic capacity, einbilden edges towards tricking or deluding yourself. 

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This is partly because sich einbilden also has numerous negative connotations, and can often be used to describe people who are particularly full of themselves, smug about something, or overly convinced of their own talents. 

In this case, you’d often use einbilden as a separable verb, meaning that the root (bilden) is used separately from the prefix (ein). “Er bildet sich ein…, (etwas) zu sein” is a common formation you’ll hear, that roughly translates as, “He fancies himself to be (something)”.

If someone likes to blow their own trumpet in general, the construction you’ll need is: “Sich viel auf sich einbilden”, which could roughly translate as: “To pride yourself on a lot” or “To think a lot of yourself”. 

Similarly, being smug about something simply involves swapping “auf sich” to “auf etwas” in that sentence, so you get something like: “Sie bildet viel auf ihre Leistung ein.” (“She’s very smug about her performance.”)

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If you want to keep it snappy, then you can always use einbilden as an adjective instead. “Du bist so eingebildet” would translate as “you’re so full of yourself”, so keep this in your arsenal if you know someone like that.

Note that when you use sich einbilden, the pronoun (sich) is in the dative case, so you’ll need to reach for mir, dir, Ihnen, etc., instead of mich, dich, and Sie. 

How can I remember it?

If you need help remembering einbilden, a good place to start would be to break it down to its components and think about what it literally means.

Most German learners will have heard the verb bilden, which means to form, build or create something, before.

Adding the prefix ein turns this inwards, so that someone who is eingebildet has formed an idea internally – usually that they are the most handsome, talented and charismatic person in the world.

Use it like it like this: 

Hast du dein Auto hier gelassen, oder habe ich mir das nur eingebildet?

Did you leave your car here, or did I just imagine it?

Sie bildet sich ein, die beste Mathematikerin der Welt zu sein. 

She fancies herself as the best mathematician in the world.