German

Noun

Rennen n ‎(genitive Rennens, plural Rennen)

1. (sports) race, a competitive event in sports.

   Nur ein Sportler kann dieses Rennen gewinnen. — Only one sportsman can win in this race.

2. the act of running.

   Das Rennen kann für den menschlichen Körper eine große Belastung sein. — Running can mean a great strain for the human body.

Derived terms

• Kopf-an-Kopf-Rennen

Dutch

Alternative forms

• rinnen (obsolete)
• runnen (mainly sense thicken)

Verb

rennen

1. (intransitive, about people or animals) to run, to move fast
2. (intransitive, about fluids) to run, flow, stream
3. (intransitive, about fluids) to flow together, combine, thicken
4. (intransitive) to leak, seep trough

Inflection

Synonyms

• (to move fast): hardlopen, lopen

Derived terms

• renner
• wedrennen
• hondenrennen
• paardenrennen

Etymology 2

Noun

rennen

1. Plural form of ren

German

Etymology

From a merger of Old High German rennan (from Proto-Germanic *rannijaną), and Old High German rinnan (from Proto-Germanic *rinnaną). A similar development of merging roots can be seen in Dutch rennen and English run as well.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʁɛnən]

Verb

rennen ‎(strong, third-person singular simple present rennt, past tense rannte, past participle gerannt, past subjunctive rennte, auxiliary haben or sein)

1. (intransitive, auxiliary: “sein”) to run; to race; to sprint (said of competeting sportsmen, animals etc.)

   So schnell wie Mike rennt niemand in der Klasse. — In this class, nobody runs as fast as Mike.

   Der Gepard ist das Säugetier, welches am schnellsten rennen kann. — The cheetah is the mammal which can run the fastest.

2. (transitive, auxiliary: “haben”) to run over (someone)

   jemanden zu Boden rennen — “to run someone to the ground”

Usage notes

Although laufen is used more frequently than rennen in the sense of to run, the latter is often used to describe running fast or to an excessive degree, like a hunting animal or a sprinter does.

Die Sportler rannten alle sehr schnell. — The sportsmen all ran very fast. -but- Sie laufen, wie jeden Morgen, zu Fuß zur Schule. — They run (or jog) to school on foot as they do every morning.

Conjugation

As a result of the merger of Old High German rinnan and rennan, the verb does follow the same ablaut-pattern as kennen but has regular endings in its preterite and past participle like other weak conjugated verbs.

Derived terms

• Rennen n
• Renner m
• Rennerei f

See also

• laufen
• rasen
• Raserei f

Japanese

Romanization

rennen

1. rōmaji reading of れんねん

Luxembourgish

Etymology

Cognate with German rennen, Dutch rennen, English run.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʀænən/
• Rhymes: -ænən

Verb

rennen ‎(third-person singular present rennt, past participle gerannt, auxiliary verb sinn)

1. (intransitive) to run

Conjugation

Synonyms

• (to run): lafen