The idea
Present tense: ich hole ab, du holst ab, er/sie/es holt ab, wir holen ab, ihr holt ab, sie/Sie holen ab. Learn the sentence pattern jemanden oder etwas abholen together with the principal parts.
| Form | Deutsch |
|---|---|
| ich | hole ab |
| du | holst ab |
| er/sie/es | holt ab |
| wir | holen ab |
| ihr | holt ab |
| sie/Sie | holen ab |
| Präteritum | holte ab |
| Perfekt | hat abgeholt |
| Imperativ (du) | Hol ab! |
| Muster | jemanden oder etwas abholen |
Meaning and sentence pattern
Abholen takes the person or object collected in the accusative. Despite the implied journey, the transitive verb forms the perfect with haben.
Learn this pattern as a unit: jemanden oder etwas abholen. The six situations below show the verb with concrete objects, complements or circumstances.
Form check
Ich bin die Kinder abgeholt.Ich habe die Kinder abgeholt.Abholen is transitive and uses haben; a journey does not make every verb a sein verb.
Examples
- Ich hole die bestellten Bücher in der Filiale ab.I collect the ordered books at the branch.
- Du holst unsere Gäste am Bahnhof ab.You pick up our guests at the station.
- Der Kurier holt das Paket vor zwölf ab.The courier collects the parcel before twelve.
- Wir holten die Räder nach der Reparatur ab.We collected the bicycles after the repair.
- Meine Nachbarin hat mich vom Flughafen abgeholt.My neighbor picked me up from the airport.
- Hol die Unterlagen bitte am Empfang ab.Please collect the documents at reception.
Read-aloud uses a synthetic German voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No German device voice is available. You can still read the text and use the linked listening resources.
Watch out
Abholen is transitive and uses haben; a journey does not make every verb a sein verb.
Try it yourself
du ___ (abholen, Präsens)
Show answer or example answer
holst ab
holst ab: this is the second-person singular present form.
er/sie ___ (abholen, Präteritum)
Show answer or example answer
holte ab
holte ab: this is the third-person singular simple past.
Perfekt: er/sie hat ___
Show answer or example answer
abgeholt
abgeholt: in this use the perfect tense is hat abgeholt.
Practice round
Answer three questions, then rebuild three German sentences. We keep your score.
du ___ (abholen, Präsens)
er/sie ___ (abholen, Präteritum)
Perfekt: er/sie hat ___
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Read the six situations aloud, compare the verb forms, and complete the present, past and participle checks. Then write a new sentence that follows jemanden oder etwas abholen.