German Running, rennen vs. laufen vs. gehen?
Seems like there's a lot of verbs for getting around, and I don't think I get all the subtle differences... especially between "rennen" and "laufen"; am I to understand that rennen is running but sometimes competitive ie racing, and that laufen is more like jogging? Then there's "gehen" ...is that just a general cover-all term akin to "going"? Fahren seems to be regulated to just driving vehicles, right? But nothing so far seems equivalent to just "walking" what would one use for that?

There is no all-purpose German word that covers all meanings of the English "to go". You have to differentiate.The most frequent verbs are: rennen: Literally means "to run", but it is mostly used for any running outside official competitions: - Die kinder rennen herum: The kids are running around. - Er rannte um sein Leben: He ran for his life. fahren: anyhing that involves traveling on wheels: - Ich fahre jeden Tag mit dem Auto zur Arbeit: I go to work by car every day. - Er fährt mit der Bahn in den Urlaub: He goes on vacation by train. gehen: Althoug this is a cognate of the English "to go", its meaning is much more restrictive. It can mean to walk:- Er geht die Straße entlang: He is walking along the road. - Er geht über die Straße: He croses the road / He is crossing the road.It can mean "to attend" in the context of some institutions: - Er geht zur Schule / zur Uni: He attends classes at school/college (regardless of how he gets there).Another meaning is "to leave": - Ich muss jetzt gehen: I have to leave now (no matter if I walk home of just walk to my car or to the bus stop). laufen: can be a synonym of "rennen" or "gehen" in some contexts, and it is almost exclusively used when it comes to competitive running: - Er läuft einen Marathon: He runs a marathon. - Sie geht jeden Tag laufen: She jogs every day. - Er läuft nach Hause: He runs/walks home (depending on the context). Finally, if you want to emphasize "walking" as opposed to taking a vehicle, you can use "zu Fuß gehen": - Ich gehe zu Fuß zum Bahnhof: I walk to the station (on foot). - Sie geht zu Fuß einkaufen: She goes shopping on foot.

@RamonaIn Süddeutschland ist es üblich laufen statt gehen zu verwenden. Auch im Duden stehen unter anderem als Bedeutungen für laufen "gehen", "sich zu Fuß fortbewegen", "eine bestimmte Strecke gehend zurücklegen". Alex' Beispiele sind für mich ganz normal.Das laufen und gehen synonym verwendet werden können, scheint auch andere zu verwirren:http://www.neue-rechtschreibung.net/2011/07/15/gehen-oder-laufen-das-ist-hier-die-frage/.

Laufen - In Germany this verb - as far as I have understood it - is used as well for going. Ich lauf mal in das Geschaeft. Ich lauf mal nach oben. It did not indicate that he would actually run. In Austria we would not use such a construction, laufen would mean 'to run'.Rennen - This really is running.Gehen - very general term for moving form A to B, but not running, normal speed. take a walk - einen Spaziergang machen; Regarding the difference between go and walk: context is everything! There would be other words like schlendern (strolling), etc.

Habe eben erst hier&nbsp;nachgelesen. Miriam und Alex,ich habe im Grunde nichts anderes gesagt als ihr auch: Es gibt regionale Unterschiede! Die Möglichkeit, dass diese Ausdrucksweise "andernorts" üblich ist, hatte ich ja ausdrücklich eingeräumt. (Aus deinem ersten Beitrag wird dies für mich&nbsp;übrigens&nbsp;nicht deutlich, Alex, du sprichst&nbsp;hier von Deutschland,&nbsp;erst in deinem&nbsp;zweiten Beitrag relativierst du deine Aussage dahingehend, dass es regionale Unterschiede gibt.)

Ack! Sorry guys, my German is not yet good enough to read with at length. I probably have a vocabulary of 700-800 words so far, but I will revisit those comments in a couple months!