abstreiten — German conjugation
to deny
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 | streite ab | I deny |
| du | streitest ab | you deny |
| er/sie/es | streitet ab | he/she/it denies |
| wir | streiten ab | we deny |
| ihr | streitet ab | you (pl.) deny |
| sie/Sie | streiten ab | they deny |
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 | stritt ab | I denied |
| du | strittest ab | you denied |
| er/sie/es | stritt ab | he/she/it denied |
| wir | stritten ab | we denied |
| ihr | strittet ab | you (pl.) denied |
| sie/Sie | stritten ab | they denied |
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 abgestritten | I have denied |
| du | hast abgestritten | you have denied |
| er/sie/es | hat abgestritten | he/she/it has denied |
| wir | haben abgestritten | we have denied |
| ihr | habt abgestritten | you (pl.) have denied |
| sie/Sie | haben abgestritten | they have denied |
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 abgestritten | I had denied |
| du | hattest abgestritten | you had denied |
| er/sie/es | hatte abgestritten | he/she/it had denied |
| wir | hatten abgestritten | we had denied |
| ihr | hattet abgestritten | you (pl.) had denied |
| sie/Sie | hatten abgestritten | they had denied |
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 abstreiten | I will deny |
| du | wirst abstreiten | you will deny |
| er/sie/es | wird abstreiten | he/she/it will deny |
| wir | werden abstreiten | we will deny |
| ihr | werdet abstreiten | you (pl.) will deny |
| sie/Sie | werden abstreiten | they will deny |
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 abgestritten haben | I will have denied |
| du | wirst abgestritten haben | you will have denied |
| er/sie/es | wird abgestritten haben | he/she/it will have denied |
| wir | werden abgestritten haben | we will have denied |
| ihr | werdet abgestritten haben | you (pl.) will have denied |
| sie/Sie | werden abgestritten haben | they will have denied |
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 | stritte ab |
| du | strittest ab |
| er/sie/es | stritte ab |
| wir | stritten ab |
| ihr | strittet ab |
| sie/Sie | stritten 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 | streite ab |
| ihr | streitet ab |