laufen

From Old High German hloufan, loufan, from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną. Akin to Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍀𐌰𐌽 (ushláupan, “jump up”), Old Norse hlaupa (whence Danish løbe, Swedish löpa), Dutch lopen, Old Saxon hlōpan, English leap and lope. Non-Germanic cognates include Slovak klusať (“to trot”), Slovene kljusati (“to amble”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaʊ̯fən/, [ˈlaʊ̯fn̩], [ˈlaʊ̯fɱ̩]

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• Hyphenation: lau‧fen

laufen (class 7 strong, third-person singular simple present läuft, past tense lief, past participle gelaufen, past subjunctive liefe, auxiliary sein)

1. (transitive or intransitive) to walk; to jog; to run (to move on foot; either at a normal or an increased speed)

   Wir können mit dem Bus fahren oder laufen.

   We could take the bus or walk.

   Lasst uns etwas schneller laufen.

   Let's move a little faster.

   Joggen bedeutet entspannter aber auch bewusster zu laufen.

   Jogging means to run in a less exhausting but more conscious way.

2. (intransitive, of a fluid) to flow; to leak; to run
3. (intransitive, of an event) to be in progress; to run

   Das Projekt läuft erfolgreich.

   The project is progressing successfully.

4. (intransitive, computing) to run, to execute (a program)

   Das Programm läuft einwandfrei. ― The program runs flawlessly.

5. (intransitive, of an event) to be in order; to work; to function

   Alles läuft wie es soll. ― Everything works just fine.

6. (intransitive, of time) to pass; to flow

• Some dictionaries define laufen as specifically meaning a medium pace between gehen (“to walk”) and rennen (“to run”). This was the original sense in Middle High German, which does remain common; the restriction to it, however, is contrary to long-established usage. Rather, laufen is neutral with regard to pace in modern German.

• gehen
• rennen

• laufen in Duden online