hergehen

Hergehen is a German verb formed with the directional prefix her- added to gehen (to go). The prefix conveys movement toward the speaker or toward a reference point, and in many contexts it marks approach or progression rather than away. In contemporary usage, hergehen occurs mainly in fixed expressions or in more formal or literary contexts; in everyday speech speakers more often express the idea with gehen plus a directional element (for example hierher, dorthin) or with related verbs such as kommen or gehen in a specific construction.

Grammatically, hergehen behaves as a typical verb with the usual tense forms of gehen. The verb’s stem changes as with gehen, producing forms such as ich gehe, du gehst, er geht in the present; ging in the past; gegangen as the past participle; and ist gegangen for the perfect. When emphasizing direction, speakers typically pair gehen with a directional word to specify the destination, for instance hierher or dorthin, or choose a more common alternative like hierherkommen for “come here.” Because the prefix is part of the verb’s meaning rather than a separate particle in all contexts, some sentences use hierher as a separate locational element rather than as a true separable-prefix construction.

Das Hergehen can also function as a noun in more formal or literary texts, meaning the proceeding, course, or progression of events—roughly, how things go. In everyday language, this nominal use is rare, and more common vocabulary for the same idea includes Vorgehen or Fortgang.

Translations of hergehen depend on context and can range from “to go toward here” or “to come toward here” in physical motion to “the proceeding of events” in figurative usage.