gehen
VERB · German
Experimental / limited support
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The corpus records 12 senses of gehen. Each sense below has its own Add to list, so you choose the one you mean.
Display information
Experimental coverage — measured below Partial on the number of recorded words, definitions, translations, word forms and pronunciation. Treat entries as evidence to check; meanings may be incomplete.
German is Experimental in Words. Support is measured, not declared: a language reaches Partial only when every measure meets its threshold, and a measure that has not been taken does not count. The development corpus holds 30 source-backed words in German. What is shown may be incomplete, and pronunciation audio, generated forms and generated examples are not offered.
-
Definition: to go, to walk From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · intransitive · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Lass uns beide mit dem Hund gehen. Let's both walk the dog together. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
- Ich sah die Kinder über die Straße gehen. I saw the children walk/go across the street. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
- Mein Baby beginnt schon zu gehen. My baby is already starting to walk. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
-
Definition: to leave From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · intransitive · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Ich gehe jetzt. I’m leaving now. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
-
Definition: to leave, to take off (aeroplane, train) From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · colloquial · intransitive · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Wann geht dein Zug? When is your train leaving? Usage example — not an attested quotation.
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Definition: to be going; to be all right [with dative ‘for someone’ and predicate adjective ‘in a particular way’] (idiomatically translated by English be doing or similar, with the dative object as the subject) From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · impersonal · intransitive · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Wie geht es dir? How are you doing? Usage example — not an attested quotation.
- Es geht mir gut. I’m doing well. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
- Es geht. It’s all right. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
-
Definition: to be possible From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · impersonal · intransitive · often · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Das würde vielleicht gehen. That might be possible. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
- Ich zeige dir, wie es geht. I'll show you how it's possible. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
-
Definition: to work, to function (of a machine, method or the like) From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · colloquial · intransitive · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Der Kaffeeautomat geht nicht. The coffee dispenser doesn't work. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
- Aber erst in Beirut lernte sie, wie professionelles Kochen geht, die Logistik, das Timing, die Organisation, um mehrere Hundert Mahlzeiten zuzubereiten. But only in Beirut did she learn how professional cooking works, the logistics, the timing, the organization for preparing several hundred meals. 2014, Der Spiegel, number 21, page 62:
-
Definition: to last, to go for, to go on, to be in progress From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · colloquial · intransitive · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Das ging für eine halbe Stunde oder so. This went on for half an hour or so. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
- Die Sitzung geht bis ein Uhr. The session is scheduled until one o’clock. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
-
Definition: to sit, to rise, to expand (of dough etc.) From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · intransitive · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Teig drei Stunden gehen lassen. Let dough sit for three hours. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
-
Definition: to be (on); to be paid for (by) From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · colloquial · intransitive · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Die Getränke gehen auf mich. Drinks are on me. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
-
Definition: to be approaching From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · dated · impersonal · intransitive · regional · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Es geht auf 8 Uhr. It’s going on 8 o’clock. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
-
Definition: to go one's way, to make one's way (of a path, destination), to go separate ways From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Wenn es euch beiden nicht passt, was ich tue und wie ich bin, dann geht doch euer Wege! Ich halte euch nicht! Geht, wohin ihr wollt! If you both don't agree with what I do and who I am, then just go your own way! I'm not stopping you! Go wherever you want! 2019 [1979], Michael Ende, Die unendliche Geschichte, Stuttgart, Germany: Thienemann-Esslinger Verlag GmbH, →ISBN:
- Wir gehen unserer Wege, hinab ins Schaufelstal. Manchmal halten wir inne, schauen uns um, schweigen. Und dann reden wir. We make our way down into the Schaufelstal [Shovel Valley]. Sometimes we pause, looking around silently. And then we talk. 2022, Gunnar Herbst, “„Ich vermisse die Bühne nicht“ – Wie Manuel Andrack vom Harald-Schmidt-Sidekick zum Genusswanderer wurde”, in stern:
- Wir verabschiedeten uns voneinander und gingen unserer Wege. We said goodbye to each other and went our separate ways. 2018, Florian Dexheimer, transl., Vier Jahre in der Stonewall Brigade: Ein Soldat der 33rd Virginia Infantry erinnert sich an den Amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg, Germany: Kirchheimbolanden: Florian Dexheimer, translation of Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade by John Overton Casler, →ISBN:
-
Definition: to be hard (on), to be (specifically) exhausting (for) From a source of medium confidence.
class-7 · colloquial · strong
No translation has been attempted for this sense.
- Der lange Abstieg ins Tal geht echt auf die Knie. The long descent into the valley is really hard on the knees. Usage example — not an attested quotation.
- Wenn man das durchgehend machen muss, ja, das geht in die Arme, ne? Das geht in die Schultern. If you have to do that continuously, yeah, that's hard on the arms, right? That's hard on your shoulders. 2026 May 8, chapter 9 (0:07:17 from the start), in Feuer und Flamme, season 11 (television show), spoken by Cedrick, via WDR:
Complete against UniMorph's German verb inventory at the pinned commit: all 29 feature bundles UniMorph records for a German verb that is not separable, with both forms of the second-person singular imperative, geh and gehe.
| Infinitiv Infinitiv | gehen attested |
|---|
| Partizip Präsens Partizip · Präsens | gehend attested |
|---|
| Partizip Perfekt Partizip · Perfekt | gegangen attested |
|---|
| Indikativ Präsens, 1. Person Singular Indikativ · Präsens · 1. Person · Singular | gehe attested |
|---|---|
| Indikativ Präsens, 1. Person Plural Indikativ · Präsens · 1. Person · Plural | gehen attested |
| Indikativ Präsens, 2. Person Singular Indikativ · Präsens · 2. Person · Singular | gehst attested |
| Indikativ Präsens, 2. Person Plural Indikativ · Präsens · 2. Person · Plural | geht attested |
| Indikativ Präsens, 3. Person Singular Indikativ · Präsens · 3. Person · Singular | geht attested |
| Indikativ Präsens, 3. Person Plural Indikativ · Präsens · 3. Person · Plural | gehen attested |
| Konjunktiv I, 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv · Präsens · 1. Person · Singular | gehe attested |
|---|---|
| Konjunktiv I, 1. Person Plural Konjunktiv · Präsens · 1. Person · Plural | gehen attested |
| Konjunktiv I, 2. Person Singular Konjunktiv · Präsens · 2. Person · Singular | gehest attested |
| Konjunktiv I, 2. Person Plural Konjunktiv · Präsens · 2. Person · Plural | gehet attested |
| Konjunktiv I, 3. Person Singular Konjunktiv · Präsens · 3. Person · Singular | gehe attested |
| Konjunktiv I, 3. Person Plural Konjunktiv · Präsens · 3. Person · Plural | gehen attested |
| Indikativ Präteritum, 1. Person Singular Indikativ · Präteritum · 1. Person · Singular | ging attested |
|---|---|
| Indikativ Präteritum, 1. Person Plural Indikativ · Präteritum · 1. Person · Plural | gingen attested |
| Indikativ Präteritum, 2. Person Singular Indikativ · Präteritum · 2. Person · Singular | gingst attested |
| Indikativ Präteritum, 2. Person Plural Indikativ · Präteritum · 2. Person · Plural | gingt attested |
| Indikativ Präteritum, 3. Person Singular Indikativ · Präteritum · 3. Person · Singular | ging attested |
| Indikativ Präteritum, 3. Person Plural Indikativ · Präteritum · 3. Person · Plural | gingen attested |
| Konjunktiv II, 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv · Präteritum · 1. Person · Singular | ginge attested |
|---|---|
| Konjunktiv II, 1. Person Plural Konjunktiv · Präteritum · 1. Person · Plural | gingen attested |
| Konjunktiv II, 2. Person Singular Konjunktiv · Präteritum · 2. Person · Singular | gingest attested |
| Konjunktiv II, 2. Person Plural Konjunktiv · Präteritum · 2. Person · Plural | ginget attested |
| Konjunktiv II, 3. Person Singular Konjunktiv · Präteritum · 3. Person · Singular | ginge attested |
| Konjunktiv II, 3. Person Plural Konjunktiv · Präteritum · 3. Person · Plural | gingen attested |
| Imperativ, 2. Person Singular Imperativ · 2. Person · Singular | geh, gehe attested |
|---|---|
| Imperativ, 2. Person Plural Imperativ · 2. Person · Plural | geht attested |
Etymology: From Middle High German gān, gēn, from Old High German gān, gēn, from Proto-West Germanic *gān, from Proto-Germanic *gāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave”). Cognate with Dutch gaan, Low German gaan, gahn, English go, Swedish and Danish gå, Yiddish גיין (geyn). The form gēn instead of gān is of Bavarian origin, but many dialects of Central and Low German have -e- (from earlier -ei-) or ei in the 2nd and 3rd person singular present, in keeping with the Proto-Germanic irregular conjugation. The -h- was introduced into the spelling by analogy with sehen, in which it had become mute but was retained in spelling. Forms such as gingen, gegangen etc. derive from Old High German gangan, from Proto-West Germanic *gangan, from Proto-Germanic *ganganą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ- (“to walk”). From a source of medium confidence.
No related word is recorded for this word.