ziehen

Ziehen is a common German verb with a broad range of meanings related to applying force toward oneself or along a path. The core sense is to pull or drag something toward the speaker or a direction. It can also mean to draw or pull something into a position, to haul something behind, or to drag along a course. In addition, ziehen is used in idiomatic expressions such as Karten ziehen (to draw a card in a game) or eine Waffe ziehen (to draw a weapon). The verb also appears in contexts of movement or relocation, as in in eine andere Stadt ziehen (to move to another city) or umziehen (to move house) in related constructions.

Grammatical profile: ziehen is a strong verb. The present tense forms are ich ziehe, du ziehst, er zieht, wir ziehen, ihr zieht, sie ziehen. The simple past (Präteritum) is zog, zogst, zog, zogen, zogt, zogen. The past participle is gezogen, and the perfect forms use the auxiliary haben: ich habe gezogen. The imperative forms are ziehe, zieht, ziehen Sie. The Konjunktiv II forms include zöge, zögest, zöge, zögen, zöget, zögen.

Prefixes create related verbs with distinct meanings, often with separable-prefix usage in main clauses. Examples include anziehen (to attract or to put on clothes), ausziehen (to undress or to move out), einziehen (to move in), weiterziehen (to move on), and durchziehen (to carry through). The prefix changes the nuance and, in some cases, the verb’s aspect in sentence structure.

See also: nouns related to the act of pulling, das Ziehen, and the related noun Zug or Zugkraft in technical contexts.