From earlier kläuen, from Middle High German kleuen, klæwen, from Old High German klawēn, chlawēn, klawjan, from Proto-Germanic *klawjaną. Later remodelled after and related to Klaue (“claw”), that is “to grab with one’s claws”. The sense “to steal” originated in West Central German and Low Franconian, and is supposed to have been spread among soldiers during World War I.
klauen (weak, third-person singular present klaut, past tense klaute, past participle geklaut, auxiliary haben)
infinitive | klauen | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | klauend | ||||
past participle | geklaut | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich klaue | wir klauen | i | ich klaue | wir klauen |
du klaust | ihr klaut | du klauest | ihr klauet | ||
er klaut | sie klauen | er klaue | sie klauen | ||
preterite | ich klaute | wir klauten | ii | ich klaute1 | wir klauten1 |
du klautest | ihr klautet | du klautest1 | ihr klautet1 | ||
er klaute | sie klauten | er klaute1 | sie klauten1 | ||
imperative | klau (du) klaue (du) |
klaut (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
klauen (third-person singular present klaut, past participle geklaut, auxiliary verb hunn)