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ziehen

German, verb

ziehen is a German verb meaning “to pull; to drag” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Ziehen is a different word: “gerund of ziehen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “mit Anwendung von Kraft hinter sich her oder auf sich zu bewegen”.

What does ziehen mean in English?

verb

  1. 1

    to pull; to drag

  2. 2

    to draw (e.g. a weapon); to extract; to puff

  3. 3

    to draw (a conclusion, lesson, etc.)

  4. 4

    to be drafty; there to be a draft (current of air)

    Fenster zu! Es zieht!

  5. 5

    to move; to migrate

    Ich ziehe nach Hamburg, aber mein Bruder zieht in eine andere Stadt.

  6. 6

    to roam; to head

  7. 7

    to stretch; to warp

  8. 8

    pull

noun

as Ziehen
  1. 1

    neutergerund of ziehen

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

How German dictionaries define it

verb: 1. mit Anwendung von Kraft hinter sich her oder auf sich zu bewegen 2. entnehmen 3. an Pfeife, Zigarette und so weiter saugen 4. malen, zeichnen

noun: 1. Handlung/Vorgang, dass etwas zieht

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 ziehen

  • zieht present singular third-person
  • zog past
  • gezogen participle past
  • zöge past subjunctive
  • haben auxiliary
  • sein auxiliary
  • 2 strong
  • haben or sein auxiliary
  • ziehend participle present
  • ziehe first-person indicative present
  • ziehst indicative present second-person
  • ziehest second-person singular subjunctive
  • ziehet plural second-person subjunctive
  • zogen first-person indicative plural
  • zögen first-person formal plural
  • zogst indicative preterite second-person
  • zogt indicative plural preterite
  • zögest formal rare second-person

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

English words that translate to ziehen

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

How common is ziehen in German?

ziehen appears 112 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).