Before you start
Meet schleichen
Read how the verb is used, then write your own 10 sentences with it.
All 5 meanings
- (intransitive) to move in a quiet and inconspicuous manner, hence often slowly and/or ducked: to crawl, to sneak, to steal, to prowl, to creep, to slither (of a snake)
- (reflexive, with some adverb of location) to go somewhere in the above manner
- (informal, intransitive) to move slowly (especially in a car)
- (informal, reflexive) to slink away; to leave meekly or sheepishly
- (Austria, Bavaria, Southern Germany, reflexive, colloquial or vulgar, dismissal) to piss off
Forms
How schleichen changes
| Pronoun | Präsens | Präteritum |
|---|---|---|
| ich | schleiche | schlich |
| du | schleichst | schlichst |
| er/sie/es | schleicht | schlich |
| wir | schleichen | schlichen |
| ihr | schleicht | schlicht |
| Sie | schleichen | schlichen |
Partizip II geschlichen · Perfekt with sein
Three examples
- 1Die Zeit schleicht heute.Time is crawling today.figurative meaning
- 2Die Katze ist leise ins Haus geschlichen.The cat crept quietly into the house.Perfekt with sein
- 3Er muss leise durch das Haus schleichen.He has to sneak quietly through the house.after a modal verb