pick – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of pick

Nominal Forms

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

Cognates

See the 7 cognates of pick

Indicative

Present

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

Perfect

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

Past

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

Pluperfect

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

Future

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

Future Perfect

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

Subjunctive

Present

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

Perfect

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

Imperfect

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

Pluperfect

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

Conditional

Present

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

Perfect

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

Imperative

youpick sth up
weLet's pick sth up
youpick sth up

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

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

Perfect

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

Past

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

Pluperfect

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

Future

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

Future Perfect

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

Conditional

Present

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

Perfect

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

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)