abbrechen — German conjugation
to break off
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Irregular
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 | breche ab | I break off |
| du | brichst ab | you break off |
| er/sie/es | bricht ab | he/she/it breaks off |
| wir | brechen ab | we break off |
| ihr | brecht ab | you (pl.) break off |
| sie/Sie | brechen ab | they break off |
Simple past (Präteritum) Irregular
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 | brach ab | I broke off |
| du | brachst ab | you broke off |
| er/sie/es | brach ab | he/she/it broke off |
| wir | brachen ab | we broke off |
| ihr | bracht ab | you (pl.) broke off |
| sie/Sie | brachen ab | they broke off |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Irregular
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 abgebrochen | I have broken off |
| du | hast abgebrochen | you have broken off |
| er/sie/es | hat abgebrochen | he/she/it has broken off |
| wir | haben abgebrochen | we have broken off |
| ihr | habt abgebrochen | you (pl.) have broken off |
| sie/Sie | haben abgebrochen | they have broken off |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Irregular
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 abgebrochen | I had broken off |
| du | hattest abgebrochen | you had broken off |
| er/sie/es | hatte abgebrochen | he/she/it had broken off |
| wir | hatten abgebrochen | we had broken off |
| ihr | hattet abgebrochen | you (pl.) had broken off |
| sie/Sie | hatten abgebrochen | they had broken off |
Future I (Futur I) Irregular
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 abbrechen | I will break off |
| du | wirst abbrechen | you will break off |
| er/sie/es | wird abbrechen | he/she/it will break off |
| wir | werden abbrechen | we will break off |
| ihr | werdet abbrechen | you (pl.) will break off |
| sie/Sie | werden abbrechen | they will break off |
Future II (Futur II) Irregular
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 abgebrochen haben | I will have broken off |
| du | wirst abgebrochen haben | you will have broken off |
| er/sie/es | wird abgebrochen haben | he/she/it will have broken off |
| wir | werden abgebrochen haben | we will have broken off |
| ihr | werdet abgebrochen haben | you (pl.) will have broken off |
| sie/Sie | werden abgebrochen haben | they will have broken off |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Irregular
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 | bräche ab |
| du | brächest ab |
| er/sie/es | bräche ab |
| wir | brächen ab |
| ihr | brächet ab |
| sie/Sie | brächen ab |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Irregular
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 | brich ab |
| ihr | brecht ab |