Ich werde um ihre Hand anhalten.

Sentence Discussions German
#1
English Translation

I’m going to propose to her.

anhalten in this context: to urge, to encourage, to compel (to do something)

#2

There are three uses of “anhalten”, that can be easily mixed up.

  1. Ich werde sie anhalten = I will stop her (normal, often used)

  2. Ich werde sie (dazu) anhalten, den Bericht fertig zu stellen = I will urge her to finish the report (formal, old fashioned)

  3. Ich werde um ihre Hand anhalten = I will ask for her hand / I will asked her to marry me (just as old fashioned as “I will ask for her hand”)
    It is a fixed expression and has nothing to do with no. 2.

2 Likes
#3

Thank you MRgK for that thorough response. Not the first time you have helped clarify meaning.