Fließt

Fließt is the third-person singular present tense form of the German verb fließen, meaning to flow, to move in a stream, or to pour. The verb is used for liquids and gases as well as for rivers, streams, and other moving bodies of liquid, but it can also be used metaphorically to describe the passage of time, thoughts, or data.

In use, fließen describes continuous movement of substances that can be seen as a flow. Examples include Der Fluss fließt durch die Stadt (The river flows through the city) and Das Blut fließt aus der Wunde (The blood flows from the wound). Metaphorical uses are common, for instance Die Zeit fließt dahin (Time flows away).

Grammatical note: in the present tense, forms are ich fließe, du fließt, er fließt, wir fließen, ihr fließt, Sie fließen. The form fließt appears in the 3rd person singular as well as in the informal 2nd person singular, while the plural forms use fließen for die Flüsse or sie (they).

The verb’s key past tenses are irregular in form. Präteritum (simple past): floss. Perfekt (present perfect): ist geflossen. Plusquamperfekt: war geflossen. Future forms include Futur I: wird fließen, and the compound form Futur II would be wird geflossen sein in very rare or specialized contexts.

Etymologically, fließen comes from the Germanic language family and is cognate with Dutch vloeien and the English verb flow. It remains a fundamental verb in descriptions of movement, physics, meteorology, and everyday observation of liquids and streams.