pick – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of pick

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to pick
Participle: picked
Gerund: picking

Cognates

See the 7 cognates of pick

Indicative

Present

Ipick
youpick
he;she;itpicks
wepick
youpick
theypick

Perfect

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

Past

Ipicked
youpicked
he;she;itpicked
wepicked
youpicked
theypicked

Pluperfect

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

Future

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

Future Perfect

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

Subjunctive

Present

Ipick
youpick
he;she;itpick
wepick
youpick
theypick

Perfect

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

Imperfect

Ipicked
youpicked
he;she;itpicked
wepicked
youpicked
theypicked

Pluperfect

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

Conditional

Present

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

Perfect

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

Imperative

youpick
weLet's pick
youpick

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

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

Perfect

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

Past

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

Pluperfect

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

Future

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

Future Perfect

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

Conditional

Present

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

Perfect

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

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)