All German word comparisons · Back to the topic overview
Meaning, sentence patterns and examples
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| kommen | come | movement toward a reference place | kam; ist gekommen |
| ankommen | arrive | reaching a destination | separable an-; ist angekommen |
| vorkommen | occur; seem | events, presence or an impression | separable vor-; dative experiencer |
| mitkommen | come along | accompanying; keeping up | separable mit-; ist mitgekommen |
kommen
Meaning and usage: Use kommen when someone moves toward the place relevant to the conversation or attends an event. The reference place need not be your present physical location: you can ask whether someone will come to tomorrow’s meeting.
Grammar: Strong: kam, ist gekommen. Destinations use suitable phrases such as nach Berlin or zu uns; zu takes dative. Ordinary movement kommen does not take an accusative person object.
Kommst du morgen zu unserem Treffen?
Are you coming to our meeting tomorrow?
ankommen
Meaning and usage: Use ankommen to focus on reaching a place, rather than the journey or decision to come. Parcels and messages can arrive too. Other established uses include being well received and es kommt auf … an, meaning it depends on something.
Grammar: Separable: kommt an, kam an, ist angekommen. In Berlin names where arrival happens. The dependency pattern auf etwas ankommen uses auf + accusative.
Der Bus ist zehn Minuten später angekommen.
The bus arrived ten minutes later.
vorkommen
Meaning and usage: Use vorkommen for something happening or being found somewhere. In the impression construction, an adjective describes how a person perceives it: Das kommt mir bekannt vor. This is not literal travel toward a place.
Grammar: Separable: kommt vor, kam vor, ist vorgekommen. The impression experiencer is dative: mir, dir, ihr. The thing that seems familiar is the subject.
Dieses Wort kommt im Text zweimal vor.
This word occurs twice in the text.
Die Melodie kommt mir bekannt vor.
The melody seems familiar to me.
mitkommen
Meaning and usage: Use mitkommen when joining someone on a trip or visit. In informal speech it can also mean keeping pace or understanding an explanation. Context distinguishes physically accompanying someone from keeping up mentally.
Grammar: Separable: kommt mit, kam mit, ist mitgekommen. A destination is optional. With a modal, the infinitive stays together: Kannst du mitkommen?
Wir gehen zum Markt. Möchtest du mitkommen?
We are going to the market. Would you like to come along?
Overlap and context
Kommen and ankommen can describe the same visit from different viewpoints: coming to the meeting versus arriving at the venue. Mitkommen adds the idea of joining others. Vorkommen shares the written stem but its occurrence and impression uses are separate constructions. Do not try to translate every prefix literally; keep one complete sentence with each sense.
Common mistakes
- Say Die Idee kommt mir seltsam vor, with mir rather than mich.
- Separate the prefixes in an ordinary main clause: Der Zug kommt an.
- Use sein in the perfect for these selected senses, not hat angekommen.
Memory aid: Coming, arriving, joining, occurring: first picture the event. For seems, remember the frame Das kommt mir … vor, with the adjective inside the verbal bracket.
Try it
You have never heard this song, but its melody sounds familiar. Complete: Die Melodie ___ mir bekannt ___.
Show the answer
kommt … vor
Vorkommen with a dative experiencer expresses an impression. Ankommen would instead focus on arrival or reception.