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treten

German, verb

treten is a German verb meaning “to step, to walk (a short distance)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Treten is a different word: “gerund of treten”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “mit der Fußsohle berühren, wobei meist das Körpergewicht darauf lastet”.

What does treten mean in English?

verb

  1. 1

    to step, to walk (a short distance)

    Bitte treten Sie hierher.

  2. 2

    to appear

    Als sie die Tragödie sah, traten ihr Tränen in die Augen.

  3. 3

    to come into a state implied by a phrase

    in Kraft treten

  4. 4

    to step; to tread; to trample

    Wasser treten

  5. 5

    to kick

    Der Räuber schlug und trat sein Opfer.

  6. 6

    to step; to tread

  7. 7

    to step [with auf (+ accusative) ‘on(to) something’]

  8. 8

    to pedal

noun

as Treten
  1. 1

    neutergerund of treten

Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How German dictionaries define it

verb: 1. mit der Fußsohle berühren, wobei meist das Körpergewicht darauf lastet 2. ein Pedalfahrzeug mit den Füßen antreiben 3. wenige Schritte gehen 4. herein- beziehungsweise herauskommen

The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.

Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

Forms of treten

  • tritt present singular third-person
  • trat past
  • getreten participle past
  • träte past subjunctive
  • haben auxiliary
  • sein auxiliary
  • 5 strong
  • haben or sein auxiliary
  • tretend participle present
  • trete first-person indicative present
  • trittst indicative present second-person
  • tretet indicative plural present
  • tretest second-person singular subjunctive
  • traten first-person indicative plural
  • träten first-person formal plural
  • tratest indicative preterite second-person
  • tratst indicative preterite second-person
  • tratet indicative plural preterite

Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

English words that translate to treten

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is treten in German?

treten appears 50 times per million words in written German.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).