abbauen — German conjugation
to dismantle
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 | baue ab | I dismantle |
| du | baust ab | you dismantle |
| er/sie/es | baut ab | he/she/it dismantles |
| wir | bauen ab | we dismantle |
| ihr | baut ab | you (pl.) dismantle |
| sie/Sie | bauen ab | they dismantle |
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 | baute ab | I dismantled |
| du | bautest ab | you dismantled |
| er/sie/es | baute ab | he/she/it dismantled |
| wir | bauten ab | we dismantled |
| ihr | bautet ab | you (pl.) dismantled |
| sie/Sie | bauten ab | they dismantled |
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 abgebaut | I have dismantled |
| du | hast abgebaut | you have dismantled |
| er/sie/es | hat abgebaut | he/she/it has dismantled |
| wir | haben abgebaut | we have dismantled |
| ihr | habt abgebaut | you (pl.) have dismantled |
| sie/Sie | haben abgebaut | they have dismantled |
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 abgebaut | I had dismantled |
| du | hattest abgebaut | you had dismantled |
| er/sie/es | hatte abgebaut | he/she/it had dismantled |
| wir | hatten abgebaut | we had dismantled |
| ihr | hattet abgebaut | you (pl.) had dismantled |
| sie/Sie | hatten abgebaut | they had dismantled |
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 abbauen | I will dismantle |
| du | wirst abbauen | you will dismantle |
| er/sie/es | wird abbauen | he/she/it will dismantle |
| wir | werden abbauen | we will dismantle |
| ihr | werdet abbauen | you (pl.) will dismantle |
| sie/Sie | werden abbauen | they will dismantle |
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 abgebaut haben | I will have dismantled |
| du | wirst abgebaut haben | you will have dismantled |
| er/sie/es | wird abgebaut haben | he/she/it will have dismantled |
| wir | werden abgebaut haben | we will have dismantled |
| ihr | werdet abgebaut haben | you (pl.) will have dismantled |
| sie/Sie | werden abgebaut haben | they will have dismantled |
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 | baute ab |
| du | bautest ab |
| er/sie/es | baute ab |
| wir | bauten ab |
| ihr | bautet ab |
| sie/Sie | bauten 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 | baue ab |
| ihr | baut ab |