herumkommen

German

Alternative forms

Etymology

herum- +‎ kommen

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /hɛɐ̯ˈʁʊmˌkɔmən/, /hɛˈʁʊm-/, [-kɔmn̩], [-kɔmː] (Germany)
  • IPA(key): /hɛɐ̯ˈʁʊmˌkɔmɛn/ (Austria, Southern Germany, Switzerland)
  • Hyphenation: her‧um‧kom‧men, he‧rum‧kom‧men

Verb

herumkommen (class 4 strong, third-person singular present kommt herum, past tense kam herum, past participle herumgekommen, past subjunctive käme herum, auxiliary sein)

  1. (intransitive, literal) to move round something
    Kommst du mit dem Auto überhaupt um die Ecke herum?Can you even get round the corner with that car?
  2. (intransitive, colloquial) to get around, to get about (to visit a variety of different places, to travel a lot)
    In ihrem Beruf kommt sie viel herum.She gets around a lot in her job.
  3. (intransitive, colloquial, chiefly in the negative) to be able to avoid/get around something
    Synonyms: herumkönnen, vermeiden
    Um diese Enscheidung kommen wir nicht herum.We can't get around this decision.

Conjugation

Further reading