pick – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of pick

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to pick at sth
Participle: picked at sth
Gerund: picking at sth

Cognates

See the 7 cognates of pick

Indicative

Present

Ipick at sth
youpick at sth
he;she;itpicks at sth
wepick at sth
youpick at sth
theypick at sth

Perfect

Ihave picked at sth
youhave picked at sth
he;she;ithas picked at sth
wehave picked at sth
youhave picked at sth
theyhave picked at sth

Past

Ipicked at sth
youpicked at sth
he;she;itpicked at sth
wepicked at sth
youpicked at sth
theypicked at sth

Pluperfect

Ihad picked at sth
youhad picked at sth
he;she;ithad picked at sth
wehad picked at sth
youhad picked at sth
theyhad picked at sth

Future

Iwill pick at sth
youwill pick at sth
he;she;itwill pick at sth
wewill pick at sth
youwill pick at sth
theywill pick at sth

Future Perfect

Iwill have picked at sth
youwill have picked at sth
he;she;itwill have picked at sth
wewill have picked at sth
youwill have picked at sth
theywill have picked at sth

Subjunctive

Present

Ipick at sth
youpick at sth
he;she;itpick at sth
wepick at sth
youpick at sth
theypick at sth

Perfect

Ihave picked at sth
youhave picked at sth
he;she;ithave picked at sth
wehave picked at sth
youhave picked at sth
theyhave picked at sth

Imperfect

Ipicked at sth
youpicked at sth
he;she;itpicked at sth
wepicked at sth
youpicked at sth
theypicked at sth

Pluperfect

Ihad picked at sth
youhad picked at sth
he;she;ithad picked at sth
wehad picked at sth
youhad picked at sth
theyhad picked at sth

Conditional

Present

Iwould pick at sth
youwould pick at sth
he;she;itwould pick at sth
wewould pick at sth
youwould pick at sth
theywould pick at sth

Perfect

Iwould have picked at sth
youwould have picked at sth
he;she;itwould have picked at sth
wewould have picked at sth
youwould have picked at sth
theywould have picked at sth

Imperative

youpick at sth
weLet's pick at sth
youpick at sth

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Iam picking at sth
youare picking at sth
he;she;itis picking at sth
weare picking at sth
youare picking at sth
theyare picking at sth

Perfect

Ihave been picking at sth
youhave been picking at sth
he;she;ithas been picking at sth
wehave been picking at sth
youhave been picking at sth
theyhave been picking at sth

Past

Iwas picking at sth
youwere picking at sth
he;she;itwas picking at sth
wewere picking at sth
youwere picking at sth
theywere picking at sth

Pluperfect

Ihad been picking at sth
youhad been picking at sth
he;she;ithad been picking at sth
wehad been picking at sth
youhad been picking at sth
theyhad been picking at sth

Future

Iwill be picking at sth
youwill be picking at sth
he;she;itwill be picking at sth
wewill be picking at sth
youwill be picking at sth
theywill be picking at sth

Future Perfect

Iwill have been picking at sth
youwill have been picking at sth
he;she;itwill have been picking at sth
wewill have been picking at sth
youwill have been picking at sth
theywill have been picking at sth

Conditional

Present

Iwould be picking at sth
youwould be picking at sth
he;she;itwould be picking at sth
wewould be picking at sth
youwould be picking at sth
theywould be picking at sth

Perfect

Iwould have been picking at sth
youwould have been picking at sth
he;she;itwould have been picking at sth
wewould have been picking at sth
youwould have been picking at sth
theywould have been picking at sth

Other

Verbs conjugated like 'pick'

abandon, abduct, abear, aberr, abject, abord, abort, abound, abraid, abray, abrook, abscind, abscond, absist, absorb, abstain, abstract, accend, accent, accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)

Verbs similar to 'pick'

dick, hick, kick, lick, nick, pack, peck, pink, pock, prick,

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

choose
separate, cull, select
dent
strike, indent, peck, pierce
gather
acquire, pull, collect, accumulate, get, pluck, reap

Antonyms

choose
reject, discard, dismiss
gather
distribute, disperse, disseminate, dispense

Additional Information

Etymology

1. O.E. *pician "to prick," merged with O.N. pikka "to prick, peck," common Gmc. (cf. M.Du. picken, Ger. picken "to pick, peck"), from PIE *pik-/*pek-, an imitative base. The meaning "to choose, select, pick out" emerged c.1390, from earlier meaning "to pluck with the fingers" (c.1325). To pick a quarrel, etc. is from c.1449; to pick at "find fault with" is from c.1670. Pick on "single out for adverse attention" is from c.1370; to pick (someone) up "make someone's acquaintance aggressively for sexual purposes" is first recorded 1698. Pick off "shoot one by one" is recorded from 1810; baseball sense of "to put out a runner on base" is from 1939. Pickpocket is from 1591 (earlier pick-purse, c.1386). Pick-me-up "stimulating alcoholic drink" is attested from 1867. Picky first recorded 1867.
2. From Middle English piken, picken, pikken, from Old English *piccian, *pīcian (attested in pīcung (“a pricking”)), and pīcan, pȳcan (“to pick, prick, pluck”), both from Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick, knock”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew-, *bu- (“to make a dull, hollow sound”). Doublet of pitch and peck.
3. Cognate with Dutch pikken (“to pick”), German picken (“to pick, peck”), Old Norse pikka, pjakka (whence Icelandic pikka (“to pick, prick”), Swedish picka (“to pick, peck”)). Compare also German Low German puken (“to pick out, rip out, pull away, extract”). See: Middle English 'piken', Proto-Germanic '*pikkōną', Dutch 'pikken', German, old spelling 'picken', Icelandic 'pikka', Swedish 'picka'.

Verbs referencing "pick"

Cornish pig, Danish pikke, Norwegian pikke, Welsh pigo, Swedish picka.

Sample Sentences

  • “ Well, ” said Haley, after they had both silently picked their nuts for a season, “ what do you say ? ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • I saw in this place the whole process of picking, rolling, pressing, drying, packing in casks, and branding. All the tobacco thus dealt with, was in course of manufacture for chewing; and one would have supposed there was enough in that one [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] “ Thee had better, ” or more gentle “ Hadn't thee better ? ” in the work of getting breakfast; for a breakfast in the luxurious valleys of Indiana is a thing complicated and multiform, and, like picking up the rose-leaves and trimming the bushes in Paradise, asking other hands than those of the original mother. While, therefore, John ran to the spring for fresh water, and Simeon the second sifted [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • Seated around her were various members of that rising race with which a Southern household abounds, engaged in shelling peas, peeling potatoes, picking pin-feathers out of fowls, and other preparatory arrangements,—Dinah every once in a while interrupting her meditations to give a poke, or a rap on the head, to some of the young operators, with the [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] his chair, with his jaw fallen down, and his head leaning back; on discovering the injury done to his father, he gave the alarm. Foot tracks were found in the garden below the window, and a pistol picked up supposed to have been overloaded, and thrown from the hand of the scoundrel who fired it. Three buck shots of a heavy load, took effect; one going through his mouth, one into the brain, and [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • “ What now, you baggage ! — what new piece of mischief ! You 've been picking the flowers, hey ? ” and Eva heard the sound of a smart slap. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • “ O, nonsense ! it's only because she likes to do mischief. She knows she mustn't pick flowers,—so she does it; that's all there is to it. But, if you fancy to have her pluck them, so be it. ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • Marie was one of those unfortunately constituted mortals, in whose eyes whatever is lost and gone assumes a value which it never had in possession. Whatever she had, she seemed to survey only to pick flaws in it; but, once fairly away, there was no end to her valuation of it. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • “ Lor, Mas’r, ’ tan't us,—we ’ s reglar stiddy,—it's these yer new hands; they ’ s real aggravatin’,—kinder pickin ’ at us, all time ! ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] in being made over to. Tom saw abundance of men,—great, burly, gruff men; little, chirping, dried men; long-favored, lank, hard men; and every variety of stubbed-looking, commonplace men, who pick up their fellow-men as one picks up chips, putting them into the fire or a basket with equal unconcern, according to their convenience; but he saw no St. Clare. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • Hi, picking up for Charlie Spring. -Do you want a bag ? -Yes, please. (Heartstopper Forever)