abfliegen — German conjugation
to take 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 | fliege ab | I take off |
| du | fliegst ab | you take off |
| er/sie/es | fliegt ab | he/she/it takes off |
| wir | fliegen ab | we take off |
| ihr | fliegt ab | you (pl.) take off |
| sie/Sie | fliegen ab | they take 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 | flog ab | I took off |
| du | flogst ab | you took off |
| er/sie/es | flog ab | he/she/it took off |
| wir | flogen ab | we took off |
| ihr | flogt ab | you (pl.) took off |
| sie/Sie | flogen ab | they took 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 | bin abgeflogen | I have taken off |
| du | bist abgeflogen | you have taken off |
| er/sie/es | ist abgeflogen | he/she/it has taken off |
| wir | sind abgeflogen | we have taken off |
| ihr | seid abgeflogen | you (pl.) have taken off |
| sie/Sie | sind abgeflogen | they have taken 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 | war abgeflogen | I had taken off |
| du | warst abgeflogen | you had taken off |
| er/sie/es | war abgeflogen | he/she/it had taken off |
| wir | waren abgeflogen | we had taken off |
| ihr | wart abgeflogen | you (pl.) had taken off |
| sie/Sie | waren abgeflogen | they had taken 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 abfliegen | I will take off |
| du | wirst abfliegen | you will take off |
| er/sie/es | wird abfliegen | he/she/it will take off |
| wir | werden abfliegen | we will take off |
| ihr | werdet abfliegen | you (pl.) will take off |
| sie/Sie | werden abfliegen | they will take 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 abgeflogen sein | I will have taken off |
| du | wirst abgeflogen sein | you will have taken off |
| er/sie/es | wird abgeflogen sein | he/she/it will have taken off |
| wir | werden abgeflogen sein | we will have taken off |
| ihr | werdet abgeflogen sein | you (pl.) will have taken off |
| sie/Sie | werden abgeflogen sein | they will have taken 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 | flöge ab |
| du | flögest ab |
| er/sie/es | flöge ab |
| wir | flögen ab |
| ihr | flöget ab |
| sie/Sie | flögen 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 | fliege ab |
| ihr | fliegt ab |