abdriften — German conjugation
to drift away
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 | drifte ab | I drift away |
| du | driftest ab | you drift away |
| er/sie/es | driftet ab | he/she/it drifts away |
| wir | driften ab | we drift away |
| ihr | driftet ab | you (pl.) drift away |
| sie/Sie | driften ab | they drift away |
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 | driftete ab | I drifted away |
| du | driftetest ab | you drifted away |
| er/sie/es | driftete ab | he/she/it drifted away |
| wir | drifteten ab | we drifted away |
| ihr | driftetet ab | you (pl.) drifted away |
| sie/Sie | drifteten ab | they drifted away |
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 | bin abgedriftet | I have drifted away |
| du | bist abgedriftet | you have drifted away |
| er/sie/es | ist abgedriftet | he/she/it has drifted away |
| wir | sind abgedriftet | we have drifted away |
| ihr | seid abgedriftet | you (pl.) have drifted away |
| sie/Sie | sind abgedriftet | they have drifted away |
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 | war abgedriftet | I had drifted away |
| du | warst abgedriftet | you had drifted away |
| er/sie/es | war abgedriftet | he/she/it had drifted away |
| wir | waren abgedriftet | we had drifted away |
| ihr | wart abgedriftet | you (pl.) had drifted away |
| sie/Sie | waren abgedriftet | they had drifted away |
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 abdriften | I will drift away |
| du | wirst abdriften | you will drift away |
| er/sie/es | wird abdriften | he/she/it will drift away |
| wir | werden abdriften | we will drift away |
| ihr | werdet abdriften | you (pl.) will drift away |
| sie/Sie | werden abdriften | they will drift away |
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 abgedriftet sein | I will have drifted away |
| du | wirst abgedriftet sein | you will have drifted away |
| er/sie/es | wird abgedriftet sein | he/she/it will have drifted away |
| wir | werden abgedriftet sein | we will have drifted away |
| ihr | werdet abgedriftet sein | you (pl.) will have drifted away |
| sie/Sie | werden abgedriftet sein | they will have drifted away |
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 | driftete ab |
| du | driftetest ab |
| er/sie/es | driftete ab |
| wir | drifteten ab |
| ihr | driftetet ab |
| sie/Sie | drifteten 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 | drifte ab |
| ihr | driftet ab |