rennen
German, verb
rennen is spelled R-E-N-N-E-N (6 letters) and appears 60 times per million words in written German, the 1,424th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Rennen is a German verb meaning “to run; to race; to sprint (said of competing sportsmen, animals etc.)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Rennen is a different word: “race (a contest where the goal is to be the first to reach some…”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich schnell zu Fuß fortbewegen, schnell laufen”.
What does rennen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to run; to race; to sprint (said of competing sportsmen, animals etc.)
So schnell wie Mike rennt niemand in der Klasse.
- 2
to run over (someone)
jemanden zu Boden rennen
noun
- 1
neuterrace (a contest where the goal is to be the first to reach some objective)
- 2
neuterthe act of running
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich schnell zu Fuß fortbewegen, schnell laufen 2. etwas häufig machen
noun: 1. Wettkampf um die Schnelligkeit der Fortbewegung 2. schnelle Fortbewegung
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 rennen
- rennt present singular third-person
- rannte past
- gerannt participle past
- rennte past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- sein auxiliary
- haben or sein auxiliary
- rennend participle present
- renne first-person indicative present
- rennst indicative present second-person
- rennest second-person singular subjunctive
- rennet plural second-person subjunctive
- rannten first-person indicative plural
- rennten first-person formal plural
- ranntest indicative preterite second-person
- ranntet indicative plural preterite
- renntest formal rare second-person
- renntet formal plural rare
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to rennen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is rennen in German?
rennen appears 60 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).