The German 'Kommen + Past Participle' Construction?

Question

I encountered the usage of a German verb + past participle construction when in English one would have used verb + present participle. It is from the fairy tale 'The Frog King or Iron Henry' ('Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich'), as follows. > Am andern Tage, als sie mit dem König und allen Hofleuten sich zur Tafel gesetzt hatte und von ihrem goldenen Tellerlein ass, da kam, plitsch platsch, plitsch platsch, etwas die Marmortreppe ***heraufgekrochen***, und als es oben angelangt war, klopfte es an die Tür und rief: "Königstochter, jüngste, mach mir auf!" Perhaps the relevant bit may be extracted to: > Der Frosch kam die Marmortreppe ***heraufgekrochen***. To my eyes it looks like: > The frog came ***crawled*** up the marble stairs. when I should have expected: > The frog came ***crawling*** up the marble stairs. In English, the choice between present and past particle would seem straightforward. If the subject of the sentence is the agent of the action in both the main verb and the participle, then use the present. Otherwise, use the past. For example: > (a) The frog came home ***crying***. > (b) The frog came home ***limping***. > (c) The frog came home ***begrimed***. > (d) The frog came home ***satisfied***. In other words, for (a) and (b), who or what cried or limped? The frog. In (c) and (d), who or what begrimed or satisfied? Not necessarily the frog. Or maybe the distinction can be set out like this: > (a) The frog came home (and ***was***) crying. > (b) The frog came home (and ***was***) limping. > (c) The frog came home (and ***had been***) begrimed. > (d) The frog came home (and ***had been***) satisfied. These considerations obviously cannot explain the German sample above. The only possible explanation I can think of is based on the observation that 'kriechen' denotes a movement. Thus, for 'The frog crawled,' German speakers may say: > Der Frosch ist ***gekrochen***. I then further venture to guess that what a German speaker sees in the extract above might be: > Der Frosch kam (und ***ist***) die Marmortreppe heraufgekrochen. If this hypothesis is right, then the construction couldn't work for something like 'crying' because it does not denote a movement. So perhaps one must say: > Der Frosch kam ***weinend*** nach Hause. My questions are: - Does the quote from the Grimms represent common German usage? - What is the psychological account of that usage? (I mean, can you make it intuitive to an English speaker? Like I've tried.) - What are the limits on the usage? For example, could one also have used a form of "kriechend" in the quote, or is "gekrochen" the only permissible form? Does what is permitted or mandatory depend on whether the verb denotes a movement (per my hypothesis)? Particularly critical for me would be whether it is permissible to substitute "heraufkriechend" for "heraufgekrochen" in the quoted passage. Thank you very much. Postscript: Based on the answers that the construction is limited to "kommen" I have changed the title to the present one above. (The original title was: When does one use a German 'Verb + Past Participle' construction?) Thanks again for the insightful answers.

Answer 1

Here we go...

- Does the quote from the Grimms represent common German usage?

Yes, "kam gekrochen" is proper past tense and translates directly into "came crawling."

- What is the psychological account of that usage?

None, really. It simply indicates the lack of grace of an amphibian on land. The only psychology here is the following poor treatment of the frog by the princess, based on her false assessment that it is a lower form of life to be looked down upon.

- What are the limits on the usage? For example, could one also have used a form of "kriechend" in the quote, or is "gekrochen" the only permissible form? Does what is permitted or mandatory depend on whether the verb denotes a movement (per my hypothesis)? Particularly critical for me would be whether it is permissible to substitute "heraufkriechend" for "heraufgekrochen" in the quoted passage.

"Kriechend" would be adverbial and require another verb before it, like "er schleppte sich kriechend nach Hause" ("he dragged himself home crawling").

HTH