abdecken — German conjugation
to cover
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 | decke ab | I cover |
| du | deckst ab | you cover |
| er/sie/es | deckt ab | he/she/it covers |
| wir | decken ab | we cover |
| ihr | deckt ab | you (pl.) cover |
| sie/Sie | decken ab | they cover |
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 | deckte ab | I covered |
| du | decktest ab | you covered |
| er/sie/es | deckte ab | he/she/it covered |
| wir | deckten ab | we covered |
| ihr | decktet ab | you (pl.) covered |
| sie/Sie | deckten ab | they covered |
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 abgedeckt | I have covered |
| du | hast abgedeckt | you have covered |
| er/sie/es | hat abgedeckt | he/she/it has covered |
| wir | haben abgedeckt | we have covered |
| ihr | habt abgedeckt | you (pl.) have covered |
| sie/Sie | haben abgedeckt | they have covered |
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 abgedeckt | I had covered |
| du | hattest abgedeckt | you had covered |
| er/sie/es | hatte abgedeckt | he/she/it had covered |
| wir | hatten abgedeckt | we had covered |
| ihr | hattet abgedeckt | you (pl.) had covered |
| sie/Sie | hatten abgedeckt | they had covered |
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 abdecken | I will cover |
| du | wirst abdecken | you will cover |
| er/sie/es | wird abdecken | he/she/it will cover |
| wir | werden abdecken | we will cover |
| ihr | werdet abdecken | you (pl.) will cover |
| sie/Sie | werden abdecken | they will cover |
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 abgedeckt haben | I will have covered |
| du | wirst abgedeckt haben | you will have covered |
| er/sie/es | wird abgedeckt haben | he/she/it will have covered |
| wir | werden abgedeckt haben | we will have covered |
| ihr | werdet abgedeckt haben | you (pl.) will have covered |
| sie/Sie | werden abgedeckt haben | they will have covered |
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 | deckte ab |
| du | decktest ab |
| er/sie/es | deckte ab |
| wir | deckten ab |
| ihr | decktet ab |
| sie/Sie | deckten 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 | decke ab |
| ihr | deckt ab |