abarbeiten — German conjugation
to work off
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Regular
Präsens is the default present for facts, habits, and near-future plans. German has no continuous aspect in the same way as English, so a single form often covers both “I work” and “I am working” when you add a time adverb or context.
Ich arbeite heute im Homeoffice.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | arbeite ab | I work off |
| du | arbeitest ab | you work off |
| er/sie/es | arbeitet ab | he/she/it works off |
| wir | arbeiten ab | we work off |
| ihr | arbeitet ab | you (pl.) work off |
| sie/Sie | arbeiten ab | they work off |
Simple past (Präteritum) Regular
Präteritum is a narrative past, common in print and in northern speech, while southern speakers lean on the perfect in conversation. sein and haben keep their Präteritum even when you otherwise avoid the preterite.
Er war müde, aber er hatte keinen Kaffee mehr.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | arbeitete ab | I worked off |
| du | arbeitetest ab | you worked off |
| er/sie/es | arbeitete ab | he/she/it worked off |
| wir | arbeiteten ab | we worked off |
| ihr | arbeitetet ab | you (pl.) worked off |
| sie/Sie | arbeiteten ab | they worked off |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Regular
The Perfekt is the everyday past for finished events: auxiliary haben or sein plus participle, with sein for most motion, coming/going, and some change-of-state verbs.
Wir sind rechtzeitig angekommen und haben gefeiert.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | habe abgearbeitet | I have worked off |
| du | hast abgearbeitet | you have worked off |
| er/sie/es | hat abgearbeitet | he/she/it has worked off |
| wir | haben abgearbeitet | we have worked off |
| ihr | habt abgearbeitet | you (pl.) have worked off |
| sie/Sie | haben abgearbeitet | they have worked off |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Regular
The Plusquamperfekt is the pluperfect: it marks what had already completed before a later past episode in the same narrative.
Sie war schon gegangen, bevor er ankam.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte abgearbeitet | I had worked off |
| du | hattest abgearbeitet | you had worked off |
| er/sie/es | hatte abgearbeitet | he/she/it had worked off |
| wir | hatten abgearbeitet | we had worked off |
| ihr | hattet abgearbeitet | you (pl.) had worked off |
| sie/Sie | hatten abgearbeitet | they had worked off |
Future I (Futur I) Regular
Futur I is for predictions, firm promises, and also probability about the present in colloquial German. Everyday speech very often uses Präsens plus a time expression instead.
Morgen schneit es, sagt der Wetterbericht.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde abarbeiten | I will work off |
| du | wirst abarbeiten | you will work off |
| er/sie/es | wird abarbeiten | he/she/it will work off |
| wir | werden abarbeiten | we will work off |
| ihr | werdet abarbeiten | you (pl.) will work off |
| sie/Sie | werden abarbeiten | they will work off |
Future II (Futur II) Regular
Futur II (werden + participle + haben/sein) names an action that will be completed before a later time, and can also express a guess that something must already have happened.
Bis Freitag werde ich alles gepackt haben.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde abgearbeitet haben | I will have worked off |
| du | wirst abgearbeitet haben | you will have worked off |
| er/sie/es | wird abgearbeitet haben | he/she/it will have worked off |
| wir | werden abgearbeitet haben | we will have worked off |
| ihr | werdet abgearbeitet haben | you (pl.) will have worked off |
| sie/Sie | werden abgearbeitet haben | they will have worked off |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Regular
Konjunktiv II is the mood for politeness, contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and reported views. In speech, würde + infinitive often stands in for rarer preterit-based forms.
Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| ich | arbeitete ab |
| du | arbeitetest ab |
| er/sie/es | arbeitete ab |
| wir | arbeiteten ab |
| ihr | arbeitetet ab |
| sie/Sie | arbeiteten ab |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Regular
The imperative uses the du, ihr, and Sie forms of command; the informal du form drops the -st of the present for many strong verbs, and separable-prefix verbs place the prefix at the end.
Mach bitte schnell, der Zug fährt gleich ab.
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| du | arbeite ab |
| ihr | arbeitet ab |