gahn
See also: Gahn
German Low German edit
Etymology edit
From Middle Low German gân, from Old Saxon gān.
Cognates
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
gahn (past singular güng, past participle gahn or gangen, auxiliary verb wesen)
- (intransitive) to go
- (intransitive) to walk
- (transitive) to walk (some distance); to go (usually) by foot
- (intransitive) to leave
- Ik gah nu. ― I'm leaving now.
- (intransitive) To lead (in a direction).
- Dehierste Weg geiht richt na Bassum. ― This road goes all the way to Bassum.
- (intransitive) To proceed (well or poorly).
- Dat is goot gahn. ― That went well.
- (impersonal, intransitive) to be going; to be alright; indicates how the oblique object fares
- Woans geiht dat di? ― How are you doing?
- Mi geiht dat goot. ― I’m doing well. (Literally, “It goes well for me.”)
- Dat geiht. ― It’s alright.
- (auxiliary) Used to form the future tense of a verb, together with an infinitive.
- (auxiliary) To start to, begin to, to be going to
- De Sünn geiht wedder schienen. ― The sun is starting to shine again.
- Ik gah slapen. ― I'm going to sleep.
- Dat geiht so regen. ― It's going to start raining soon.
- (colloquial, intransitive) to be possible
- Dat mag villicht gahn. ― That might be possible.
- (colloquial, intransitive) to work, to function (the verb warken is also used in that context)
- De Koffeeautomaat geiht nich. ― The coffee dispenser doesn't work.
- (colloquial, intransitive) to be in progress; to last
- De Sitten geiht bet Klock een. ― The session is scheduled until one o'clock.
- (impersonal, intransitive, with “op” followed by a time) to approach; to be going (on some one)
- Dat geiht op Klock 8. ― It’s going on 8 o’clock.
Usage notes edit
Unlike English to go, Low German gahn does not mean "to travel somewhere" in general. A distinction must be made between gahn (walk), fohren (go by bike, car, train, or ship), and flegen (go by plane, i.e fly). If used with a place one cannot or would not commonly walk to, gahn often imples that one intends to stay there for a long time, e.g.: Ik gah na New York. – I'm going to New York to live.
Conjugation edit
Conjugation of gahn (irregular verb)
infinitive | gahn | |
---|---|---|
indicative | present | preterite |
1st person singular | gah | güng |
2nd person singular | geihs(t) | güngs(t) |
3rd person singular | geih(t) | güng |
plural | gaht, gahen | güngen |
imperative | present | — |
singular | gah | |
plural | gaht | |
participle | present | past |
gahn | (e)gahn, gangen, gegahn, gangen | |
Note: This conjugation is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects. |