kurbeln
to crank
To move or operate something by turning a crank.
EXAMPLE
Er kurbelte so lange, bis der Eimer aus dem Brunnen kam.
He kept cranking until the bucket came up out of the well.
kurbeln
to crank / to film
kurbeln – kurbelte – hat gekurbelt
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Meanings
kurbeln
to film (by hand crank)
To make a film recording with a hand-operated film camera.
EXAMPLE
Der Kameramann kurbelte die Szene mit einer alten Filmkamera.
The cameraman filmed the scene with an old hand-cranked film camera.
Forms
Forms adapted from the German Wiktionary entry kurbeln, by Wiktionary contributors, licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Present
| ich | kurble kurbele |
|---|---|
| du | kurbelst |
| er/sie/es | kurbelt |
| wir | kurbeln |
| ihr | kurbelt |
| sie | kurbeln |
Simple past
| ich | kurbelte |
|---|---|
| du | kurbeltest |
| er/sie/es | kurbelte |
| wir | kurbelten |
| ihr | kurbeltet |
| sie | kurbelten |
Perfect
with haben
| ich | habe gekurbelt |
|---|---|
| du | hast gekurbelt |
| er/sie/es | hat gekurbelt |
| wir | haben gekurbelt |
| ihr | habt gekurbelt |
| sie | haben gekurbelt |
Commands
| du | kurble! kurbele!, kurbel! |
|---|---|
| ihr | kurbelt! |
| Sie | kurbeln Sie! |
Past perfect
| ich | hatte gekurbelt |
|---|---|
| du | hattest gekurbelt |
| er/sie/es | hatte gekurbelt |
| wir | hatten gekurbelt |
| ihr | hattet gekurbelt |
| sie | hatten gekurbelt |
Future
| ich | werde kurbeln |
|---|---|
| du | wirst kurbeln |
| er/sie/es | wird kurbeln |
| wir | werden kurbeln |
| ihr | werdet kurbeln |
| sie | werden kurbeln |
Subjunctive I
| ich | kurbele kurble |
|---|---|
| du | kurbelst kurblest |
| er/sie/es | kurbele kurble |
| wir | kurbeln |
| ihr | kurbelt kurblet |
| sie | kurbeln |
Used for reported speech.
Subjunctive II
| ich | kurbelte |
|---|---|
| du | kurbeltest |
| er/sie/es | kurbelte |
| wir | kurbelten |
| ihr | kurbeltet |
| sie | kurbelten |
Used for wishes and “would”.
Other forms
| infinitive | kurbeln |
|---|---|
| with zu | zu kurbeln |
| present participle | kurbelnd |
| past participle | gekurbelt |
Usage tips
Word family
'Kurbeln' (to crank) belongs to the word family of 'Kurbel' (crank). The basic idea is a turning movement that sets something in motion or moves it.
EXAMPLE
Das Kind kurbelte an der alten Spieluhr, und die Melodie begann.
The child cranked the old music box, and the melody began.
Sentence pattern
In this meaning, 'kurbeln' (to crank) is often used with an object in the accusative and a directional phrase such as 'nach oben' (upward) or 'nach unten' (downward). The directional phrase shows where the object is moving.
EXAMPLE
Sie kurbelte das Seitenfenster ein Stück nach unten.
She cranked the side window down a little.
Film terminology
This meaning mainly belongs to historical or film-technical contexts. Words such as 'Kameramann' (cameraman), 'Handkurbel' (hand crank), 'Filmaufnahme' (film recording), and 'Szene' (scene) usually show that 'kurbeln' (to crank) refers to filming with an old film camera.
EXAMPLE
Zu Zeiten des Stummfilms kurbelten die Kameraleute jede Szene von Hand.
In the days of silent film, camera operators cranked every scene by hand.
In real life
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