achten — German conjugation
to respect; to pay attention (auf: to)
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 | achte | I respect |
| du | achtest | you respect |
| er/sie/es | achtet | he/she/it respects |
| wir | achten | we respect |
| ihr | achtet | you (pl.) respect |
| sie/Sie | achten | they respect |
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 | achtete | I respected |
| du | achtetest | you respected |
| er/sie/es | achtete | he/she/it respected |
| wir | achteten | we respected |
| ihr | achtetet | you (pl.) respected |
| sie/Sie | achteten | they respected |
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 geachtet | I have respected |
| du | hast geachtet | you have respected |
| er/sie/es | hat geachtet | he/she/it has respected |
| wir | haben geachtet | we have respected |
| ihr | habt geachtet | you (pl.) have respected |
| sie/Sie | haben geachtet | they have respected |
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 geachtet | I had respected |
| du | hattest geachtet | you had respected |
| er/sie/es | hatte geachtet | he/she/it had respected |
| wir | hatten geachtet | we had respected |
| ihr | hattet geachtet | you (pl.) had respected |
| sie/Sie | hatten geachtet | they had respected |
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 achten | I will respect |
| du | wirst achten | you will respect |
| er/sie/es | wird achten | he/she/it will respect |
| wir | werden achten | we will respect |
| ihr | werdet achten | you (pl.) will respect |
| sie/Sie | werden achten | they will respect |
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 geachtet haben | I will have respected |
| du | wirst geachtet haben | you will have respected |
| er/sie/es | wird geachtet haben | he/she/it will have respected |
| wir | werden geachtet haben | we will have respected |
| ihr | werdet geachtet haben | you (pl.) will have respected |
| sie/Sie | werden geachtet haben | they will have respected |
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 | achtete |
| du | achtetest |
| er/sie/es | achtete |
| wir | achteten |
| ihr | achtetet |
| sie/Sie | achteten |
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 | achte |
| ihr | achtet |