reichen
German, verb
reichen is spelled R-E-I-C-H-E-N (7 letters) and appears 55 times per million words in written German, the 1,550th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Reichen is a German verb meaning “to reach (extend a certain distance)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a strong genitive masculine/neuter singular of reich. With a capital, Reichen is a different word: “dative plural of Reich”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “jemandem etwas geben”.
What does reichen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to reach (extend a certain distance)
Der Turm reicht fast bis zum Himmel.
- 2
to pass, to hand, to serve, to put within reach
Bitte reich mir die Butter.
- 3
to suffice, to be enough, to do (for a certain purpose)
Vier Äpfel reichen für den Strudel.
adjective
- 1
masculineneuterstrong genitive masculine/neuter singular
- 2
weak/mixed genitive/dative all-gender singular
- 3
masculinestrong/weak/mixed accusative masculine singular
- 4
strong dative plural
- 5
weak/mixed all-case plural
noun
- 1
neuterdative plural of Reich
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. jemandem etwas geben 2. jemandem etwas entgegenstrecken 3. Speisen oder Getränke auf den Tisch bringen; servieren 4. sich erstrecken
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 reichen
- reicht present singular third-person
- reichte past
- gereicht participle past
- haben auxiliary
- reichend participle present
- reiche first-person indicative present
- reichst indicative present second-person
- reichest second-person singular subjunctive
- reichet plural second-person subjunctive
- reichten first-person indicative plural
- reichtest indicative preterite second-person
- reichtet indicative plural preterite
- reich imperative second-person singular
- habe gereicht first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben gereicht first-person indicative multiword-construction
- reiche! imperative singular
- reicht! imperative plural
- gereicht haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to reichen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is reichen in German?
reichen appears 55 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).