kommen
German, verb
kommen is spelled K-O-M-M-E-N (6 letters) and appears 513 times per million words in written German, the 181st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Kommen is a German verb meaning “to come; to arrive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Kommen is a different word: “gerund of kommen: "coming", "arrival"”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “einen Ort erreichen, sich von einem Ort hierher begeben”.
What does kommen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to come; to arrive
Er kam letzte Nacht sehr spät nach Hause.
- 2
to come to; to come over (go somewhere so as to join someone else)
Bleib sitzen! Ich komme zu dir.
- 3
to get; to make it (go somewhere in a way that implies an obstacle or difficulty to be overcome)
Ich komme nicht über die Mauer.
- 4
to go to; to be put in (go somewhere in a way that is predetermined or prearranged)
Hartnäckige Sünder kommen in die Hölle.
- 5
to come on (used to encourage someone)
Ach komm, das wird so schlimm nicht werden.
- 6
to occur; to happen; to come to be
Dann kam, was alle befürchtet hatten.
- 7
to be played (of a song or film)
Eben kam mein Lieblingslied.
- 8
to be due to; to be the result of
Das kommt alles von deiner Faulheit.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of kommen: "coming", "arrival"
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. einen Ort erreichen, sich von einem Ort hierher begeben 2. an etwas teilnehmen; zu jemandem oder einem Ereignis gehen 3. einen Bestimmungsort haben 4. beginnen, sich ereignen, sich ergeben
noun: 1. Vorgang zu kommen
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 kommen
- kommt present singular third-person
- kam past
- gekommen participle past
- käme past subjunctive
- sein auxiliary
- 4 strong
- kommend participle present
- komme first-person indicative present
- kommst indicative present second-person
- kommest second-person singular subjunctive
- kommet plural second-person subjunctive
- kamen first-person indicative plural
- kämen first-person plural subjunctive
- kamst indicative preterite second-person
- kamt indicative plural preterite
- kämest second-person singular subjunctive
- kämst second-person singular subjunctive
- kämet plural second-person subjunctive
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to kommen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is kommen in German?
kommen appears 513 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).