die Vorsitzende
chairwoman
A female person who leads an organization, association, party, meeting, or commission.
EXAMPLE
Die Vorsitzende des Betriebsrats hat die Verhandlungen geführt.
The chairwoman of the works council led the negotiations.
die Vorsitzende
chairwoman
Checking...
Loading your saved state.
Meanings
Usage tips
Word structure
The word is derived from the verb 'vorsitzen' (to chair/preside), which literally means 'to sit at the front.' So the chairwoman is the person who symbolically sits at the front of a meeting and leads it.
EXAMPLE
Wer sitzt heute der Sitzung vor?
Who is chairing the meeting today?
Grammatical form
'Vorsitzende' is a nominalized adjective. This means it is declined like an adjective, even though it is used as a noun. Pay attention to the endings after articles.
EXAMPLE
Wir sprachen mit der Vorsitzenden des Ausschusses.
We spoke with the chairwoman of the committee.
Sentence structure
Usually, a genitive or the preposition 'von' (of/from) is used to indicate whose chairwoman the person is. The genitive form is more common in written language.
EXAMPLE
Sie ist die Vorsitzende des Sportvereins.
She is the chairwoman of the sports club.
Compare with
Vorsitzende vs Präsidentin
president
A Vorsitzende and a Präsidentin can both lead an organization or association. Vorsitzende emphasizes the function of chairing, whereas Präsidentin is often the established official title for the female leader. The main deciding factor is therefore the organization's official title.
Vorsitzende
Die Vorsitzende leitete die Sitzung des Vereins und ließ über den Antrag abstimmen.
The chairwoman led the association's meeting and called for a vote on the motion.
Präsidentin
Die Präsidentin des Vereins eröffnete die Jahresversammlung mit einer kurzen Rede.
The association's president opened the annual meeting with a short speech.
In real life
Loading video examples...