ankomen

Ankommen is a German verb formed with the prefix an- attached to kommen (to come). It is most commonly used to express arriving at a place or reaching a destination, as in “Der Zug kommt um 8 Uhr an.” The verb can also be used in a broader sense to indicate reaching a point in time or progress, for example “Wir kommen langsam voran.”

In addition to its literal meaning, ankomen appears in several figurative expressions. A well-known idiom is “Es kommt darauf an,” meaning “it depends.” The construction relies on the verb’s sense of reaching or attaining a condition or situation.

Grammar and forms: ankomen is a separable-prefix verb. In the present tense, the prefix is separated: ich komme an, du kommst an, er kommt an, wir kommen an, ihr kommt an, sie kommen an. The past participle is angekommen, and the auxiliary used in perfect constructions is sein (er ist angekommen). The simple past is kam an. The verb also appears in compounds such as ankommen auf (to depend on).

Derivation and related forms: the noun corresponding to the event of arriving is die Ankunft (arrival). The present participle is ankommend. Common collocations include ankommen am Bahnhof (to arrive at the station) and ankommen in einer Stadt (to arrive in a city).

See also: Ankunft, ankommend, ankommen auf, es kommt darauf an.