kauen
See also: käuen
German
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Middle High German kūwen, kiuwen, kewen, from Old High German kūwen, kiuwan, from Proto-West Germanic *keuwan.
The form shows the Central German development of Middle High German -iuw- → -ūw-, which is only sporadically reflected in the modern standard language (compare brauen). The expected form can still be found in the compound wiederkäuen (“to chew the cud”). Cognate with Dutch kauwen, Low German käwwen, West Frisian koaie, kôgje, English chew.
Pronunciation
editVerb
editkauen (weak, third-person singular present kaut, past tense kaute, past participle gekaut, auxiliary haben)
- (transitive) to chew (something)
- (intransitive) to chew, to gnaw [with an (+ dative) ‘on something’]
- to bite [with an (+ dative) or (less common) accusative ‘one's nails’]
- Er kaut an den/seinen Nägeln.
- He bites (on) his nails.
- Er kaut seine Nägel. (less common)
- He bites his nails.
Conjugation
editinfinitive | kauen | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | kauend | ||||
past participle | gekaut | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich kaue | wir kauen | i | ich kaue | wir kauen |
du kaust | ihr kaut | du kauest | ihr kauet | ||
er kaut | sie kauen | er kaue | sie kauen | ||
preterite | ich kaute | wir kauten | ii | ich kaute1 | wir kauten1 |
du kautest | ihr kautet | du kautest1 | ihr kautet1 | ||
er kaute | sie kauten | er kaute1 | sie kauten1 | ||
imperative | kau (du) kaue (du) |
kaut (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Related terms
editFurther reading
editCategories:
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- German terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵyewh₁-
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German verbs
- German weak verbs
- German verbs using haben as auxiliary
- German transitive verbs
- German intransitive verbs
- German terms with usage examples