kreuzen

to cross

Past (Präteritum)

kreuzte

Past participle

gekreuzt (haben)

A regular weak verb. In the context of the story, it is used reflexively or transitively to describe paths meeting each other at a single point, often metaphorically for people or their fates meeting unexpectedly in life (sich kreuzen). It also refers to the act of marking something with an 'X' or cross symbol in other contexts, like a ballot or map entry (etw. kreuzen). Be aware that 'kreuzen' can also imply breeding or hybridization in biology (Tiere/Pflanzen kreuzen). It is generally not used for physically traversing a distance (that would be 'überqueren'). When used to describe roads or paths, it is typically 'sich kreuzen'. The auxiliary is 'haben' as it generally describes a state or a non-motion action in this usage. It is not separable, so the stem does not detach from prefixes in the present or past tenses. As a transitive verb, it can also mean to mark something with a cross, such as an answer on a test or a map location (die richtige Antwort kreuzen). The verb is a common, standard weak verb without any irregular vowel changes, making it straightforward for language learners to conjugate in all tenses according to standard weak verb rules (t-suffix). The most common idiom is 'seine Wege kreuzen' as seen in the article, indicating an accidental or serendipitous meeting of paths between people or their trajectories in life. Keep in mind that 'überkreuzen' is a common separable variant used for overlapping items, whereas 'kreuzen' remains simple in its prefix-less form. No special umlaut changes occur because the root vowel is stable. It is a very regular, high-frequency verb in both daily and formal register, particularly in academic or analytical discussions involving overlapping subjects or data points. It is not generally associated with motion verbs that would require 'sein'. It follows the standard pattern of weak verbs ending in -en after a consonant (z), requiring a linking 'e' only in some specific inflected forms like the present 2nd/3rd person singular (kreuzest/kreuzt) or 2nd person plural (kreuzt), which is typical for standard German conjugation rules for roots ending in 'z'. It is highly useful in describing intersections, whether of paths, histories, or even genetic lineages, and remains stable across all standard Germanic dialects without significant regional variation in its conjugation or meaning. Therefore, learners can confidently use 'kreuzen' as a regular pattern for other weak verbs ending in -zen. The past forms are identical for first and third person singular (kreuzte). The participle is formed by adding 'ge-' to the root and ending with '-t'. It is a versatile tool for describing complex interactions, meeting points, and crossings of various kinds, making it an essential addition to any learner's vocabulary, especially when discussing life trajectories or physical layout of places like towns or geographical features where routes converge or intersect at specific nodes or intersections.

Conjugation

Present

kreuzt

present, singular, third-person

kreuze

first-person, indicative, present, singular

kreuzen

first-person, indicative, plural, present

Past

kreuzte

past

kreuzten

first-person, indicative, plural, preterite

kreuztest

indicative, preterite, second-person, singular

kreuztet

indicative, plural, preterite, second-person

Subjunctive

kreuze

first-person, singular, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

kreuzen

first-person, plural, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

kreuzest

second-person, singular, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

kreuzet

plural, second-person, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

kreuzte

first-person, formal, rare, singular, subjunctive, subjunctive-ii

kreuzten

first-person, formal, plural, rare, subjunctive, subjunctive-ii

kreuztest

formal, rare, second-person, singular, subjunctive, subjunctive-ii

kreuztet

formal, plural, rare, second-person, subjunctive, subjunctive-ii

habe gekreuzt

first-person, multiword-construction, perfect, singular, subjunctive

haben gekreuzt

first-person, multiword-construction, perfect, plural, subjunctive

habest gekreuzt

multiword-construction, perfect, second-person, singular, subjunctive

habet gekreuzt

multiword-construction, perfect, plural, second-person, subjunctive

hätte gekreuzt

first-person, multiword-construction, pluperfect, singular, subjunctive

hätten gekreuzt

first-person, multiword-construction, pluperfect, plural, subjunctive

hättest gekreuzt

multiword-construction, pluperfect, second-person, singular, subjunctive

hättet gekreuzt

multiword-construction, pluperfect, plural, second-person, subjunctive

werde kreuzen

first-person, future, future-i, multiword-construction, singular, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

werden kreuzen

first-person, future, future-i, multiword-construction, plural, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

werdest kreuzen

future, future-i, multiword-construction, second-person, singular, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

werdet kreuzen

future, future-i, multiword-construction, plural, second-person, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

würde kreuzen

first-person, future, future-i, multiword-construction, singular, subjunctive, subjunctive-ii

würden kreuzen

first-person, future, future-i, multiword-construction, plural, subjunctive, subjunctive-ii

würdest kreuzen

future, future-i, multiword-construction, second-person, singular, subjunctive, subjunctive-ii

würdet kreuzen

future, future-i, multiword-construction, plural, second-person, subjunctive, subjunctive-ii

werde gekreuzt haben

first-person, future, future-ii, multiword-construction, singular, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

werden gekreuzt haben

first-person, future, future-ii, multiword-construction, plural, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

werdest gekreuzt haben

future, future-ii, multiword-construction, second-person, singular, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

werdet gekreuzt haben

future, future-ii, multiword-construction, plural, second-person, subjunctive, subjunctive-i

würde gekreuzt haben

first-person, future, future-ii, multiword-construction, singular, subjunctive, subjunctive-ii

würden gekreuzt haben

first-person, future, future-ii, multiword-construction, plural, subjunctive, subjunctive-ii

Imperative

kreuz

imperative, second-person, singular

kreuze

imperative, second-person, singular

kreuzt

imperative, plural, second-person

Participle

gekreuzt

participle, past

kreuzend

participle, present

Infinitive

kreuzen

infinitive

Other

habe gekreuzt

first-person, indicative, multiword-construction, perfect, singular

haben gekreuzt

first-person, indicative, multiword-construction, perfect, plural

hast gekreuzt

indicative, multiword-construction, perfect, second-person, singular

habt gekreuzt

indicative, multiword-construction, perfect, plural, second-person

hat gekreuzt

indicative, multiword-construction, perfect, singular, third-person

hatte gekreuzt

first-person, indicative, multiword-construction, pluperfect, singular

hatten gekreuzt

first-person, indicative, multiword-construction, pluperfect, plural

hattest gekreuzt

indicative, multiword-construction, pluperfect, second-person, singular

hattet gekreuzt

indicative, multiword-construction, pluperfect, plural, second-person

kreuzen werden

future, future-i, infinitive, multiword-construction

werde kreuzen

first-person, future, future-i, indicative, multiword-construction, singular

werden kreuzen

first-person, future, future-i, indicative, multiword-construction, plural

wirst kreuzen

future, future-i, indicative, multiword-construction, second-person, singular

werdet kreuzen

future, future-i, indicative, multiword-construction, plural, second-person

wird kreuzen

future, future-i, indicative, multiword-construction, singular, third-person

gekreuzt haben werden

future, future-ii, infinitive, multiword-construction

werde gekreuzt haben

first-person, future, future-ii, indicative, multiword-construction, singular

werden gekreuzt haben

first-person, future, future-ii, indicative, multiword-construction, plural

wirst gekreuzt haben

future, future-ii, indicative, multiword-construction, second-person, singular

werdet gekreuzt haben

future, future-ii, indicative, multiword-construction, plural, second-person

wird gekreuzt haben

future, future-ii, indicative, multiword-construction, singular, third-person

bin gekreuzt

first-person, indicative, multiword-construction, perfect, singular

sind gekreuzt

first-person, indicative, multiword-construction, perfect, plural

bist gekreuzt

indicative, multiword-construction, perfect, second-person, singular

seid gekreuzt

indicative, multiword-construction, perfect, plural, second-person

ist gekreuzt

indicative, multiword-construction, perfect, singular, third-person

war gekreuzt

first-person, indicative, multiword-construction, pluperfect, singular

waren gekreuzt

first-person, indicative, multiword-construction, pluperfect, plural

warst gekreuzt

indicative, multiword-construction, pluperfect, second-person, singular

wart gekreuzt

indicative, multiword-construction, pluperfect, plural, second-person

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