holen
German, verb/ˈhoːlən/
holen is spelled H-O-L-E-N (5 letters) and appears 65 times per million words in written German, the 1,326th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Holen is a German verb meaning “to (go) get, to fetch (to go somewhere and take something to bring back)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas oder jemanden herbeischaffen”.
What does holen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to (go) get, to fetch (to go somewhere and take something to bring back)
Hol noch einen Stuhl!
- 2
to (go) get, to fetch (to seek out a person and bring them to a location)
Kannst du deine Mutter holen? Ich muss dringend mit ihr sprechen.
- 3
colloquialto get, to cop (to buy for one's benefit/entertainment)
Ich hole mir morgen ’n neuen Fernseher.
- 4
informalto catch, to get (an illness or injury)
Meine Tochter hat sich einen Schnupfen geholt.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas oder jemanden herbeischaffen 2. einatmen 3. sich eine Unpässlichkeit einfangen 4. entführt werden
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 holen
- holt present singular third-person
- holte past
- geholt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- holend participle present
- hole first-person indicative present
- holst indicative present second-person
- holest second-person singular subjunctive
- holet plural second-person subjunctive
- holten first-person indicative plural
- holtest indicative preterite second-person
- holtet indicative plural preterite
- hol imperative second-person singular
- habe geholt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben geholt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- hole! imperative singular
- hol! imperative singular
- holt! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce holen?
- /ˈhoːlən/
- [ˈhoːlən]
- [ˈhoːl̩n]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to holen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is holen in German?
holen appears 65 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).