Holen ("to fetch, to go and get") is a regular weak verb that carries a meaning English splits across several phrases: go get, fetch, pick up, grab. The base verb is easy. The interesting part is its prefixed children: abholen (to pick someone/something up) is separable and behaves predictably, while wiederholen (to repeat) is inseparable and breaks every rule you would expect — a classic trap. Learning holen well means learning where the prefix goes.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Präteritum | Partizip II (auxiliary) |
|---|---|---|
| holen | holte | geholt (hat) |
Read this as holen – holte – hat geholt. Pure weak verb: -te in the past, ge-...-t participle, haben auxiliary.
Präsens (present)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hole |
| du | holst |
| er / sie / es | holt |
| wir | holen |
| ihr | holt |
| sie / Sie | holen |
Warte kurz, ich hole schnell meine Jacke.
Hang on a sec, I'll just go grab my jacket. (informal)
Holst du mir bitte ein Glas Wasser?
Could you get me a glass of water please? (informal)
Präteritum (simple past)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | holte |
| du | holtest |
| er / sie / es | holte |
| wir | holten |
| ihr | holtet |
| sie / Sie | holten |
Er holte tief Luft und sprang.
He took a deep breath and jumped. (Atem/Luft holen = take a breath)
Perfekt (present perfect)
Built with haben plus the participle geholt.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe geholt |
| du | hast geholt |
| er / sie / es | hat geholt |
| wir | haben geholt |
| ihr | habt geholt |
| sie / Sie | haben geholt |
Ich habe schon Brötchen geholt, sie sind in der Küche.
I've already got rolls, they're in the kitchen. (informal)
Imperativ (commands)
| Addressee | Form |
|---|---|
| du | hol(e) |
| ihr | holt |
| Sie | holen Sie |
Hol bitte Hilfe — schnell!
Go get help — quick! (Hilfe holen = fetch help)
Usage and meaning
The core of holen is movement toward the speaker: you go somewhere, get the thing, and bring it back. That distinguishes it from bringen (to bring/take, which emphasises delivering) and from nehmen (to take/pick up in your hand). With holen the journey is implied — you fetch.
Ich gehe noch schnell die Kinder von der Schule holen.
I'm just going to go pick the kids up from school. (movement to fetch)
abholen — separable (pick up)
The most common prefixed form, abholen "to pick up / collect," is separable: the prefix ab- detaches and lands at the end of the clause in main-clause word order, and the participle inserts ge- between prefix and stem (abgeholt).
Ich hole dich um acht am Bahnhof ab.
I'll pick you up at eight at the station. (ab- separates and moves to the end)
Sie hat das Paket schon bei der Post abgeholt.
She has already collected the parcel from the post office. (participle: ab-ge-holt)
wiederholen — inseparable (repeat) — the trap
Here is the trap. wiederholen "to repeat / revise" is inseparable, even though wieder- looks like an ordinary separable prefix (and there is a rare separable wiederholen meaning "to fetch back," stressed on wie-). The everyday verb — stressed on the -ho- — does not split, takes no ge- in the participle, and keeps the prefix attached at all times.
| abholen (separable) | wiederholen (inseparable) | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | ich hole ... ab | ich wiederhole |
| Präteritum | ich holte ... ab | ich wiederholte |
| Partizip II | abgeholt | wiederholt (no ge-) |
Können Sie das bitte wiederholen? Ich habe es nicht verstanden.
Could you please repeat that? I didn't catch it. (formal; prefix stays attached)
Ich habe das ganze Kapitel noch einmal wiederholt.
I revised the whole chapter once more. (participle wiederholt, no ge-)
Reflexive and idiomatic uses
With a dative reflexive pronoun, sich (dat) etwas holen means to get/pick something up for oneself — including, idiomatically, an illness.
| Expression | English |
|---|---|
| sich (dat) etwas holen | to grab/get oneself something |
| sich eine Erkältung holen | to catch a cold |
| Atem / Luft holen | to take a breath / catch one's breath |
| Hilfe / den Arzt holen | to go get help / fetch the doctor |
| sich einen Rat holen | to seek advice |
Zieh dich warm an, sonst holst du dir noch eine Erkältung.
Dress warmly, or you'll end up catching a cold. (sich eine Erkältung holen)
Common Mistakes
❌ Können Sie das bitte wieder holen?
Wrong split — written as two words it means 'fetch again'; the verb 'to repeat' is one word, inseparable: wiederholen.
✅ Können Sie das bitte wiederholen?
Could you please repeat that?
❌ Ich habe das Kapitel gewiederholt.
Wrong participle — inseparable wiederholen takes no ge-.
✅ Ich habe das Kapitel wiederholt.
I revised the chapter.
❌ Ich hole dich ab um acht am Bahnhof.
Word-order error — the separable prefix ab must go to the very end of the clause.
✅ Ich hole dich um acht am Bahnhof ab.
I'll pick you up at eight at the station.
❌ Ich bin Brötchen geholt.
Wrong auxiliary — holen takes haben.
✅ Ich habe Brötchen geholt.
I got rolls.
Key Takeaways
- Principal parts: holen – holte – hat geholt (weak, haben).
- The core sense is fetch — go, get, bring back (contrast bringen, nehmen).
- abholen "pick up" is separable (hole … ab, participle abgeholt).
- wiederholen "repeat" is inseparable — it never splits and takes no ge- (wiederholt).
- sich (dat) etwas holen = get oneself something; idiomatically sich eine Erkältung holen = catch a cold.
Now practice German
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning German→Related Topics
- Present Tense: Regular (Weak) VerbsA1 — The full present-tense paradigm of regular German verbs, and why one German form does the work of three English ones.
- Präteritum of Weak Verbs (-te)A2 — The fully regular weak past: stem + -te + endings, the ich/er identity, and the linking -ete- after t- and d-stems.
- Inseparable Prefix VerbsA2 — The eight prefixes that never split, never take ge-, and are stressed on the stem: be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, zer-.
- High-Frequency Separable Verbs ReferenceA2 — A practical reference of the most common German separable verbs, grouped by prefix, with meanings, participles, and the correct Perfekt auxiliary.
- Dative Reflexive Verbs and Body PartsB1 — When a reflexive verb already has an accusative object, the reflexive pronoun shifts to the dative — the pattern behind 'sich die Hände waschen' and 'sich etwas vorstellen'.
- bringen: Full Conjugation and UsageA2 — Complete conjugation of bringen 'to bring / to take (somewhere)' across every tense and mood, with principal parts, the dative + accusative pattern, idioms, and the errors English speakers make.