ändern — German conjugation
to change, to alter
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 | ändere | I change |
| du | änderst | you change |
| er/sie/es | ändert | he/she/it changes |
| wir | ändern | we change |
| ihr | ändert | you (pl.) change |
| sie/Sie | ändern | they change |
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 | änderte | I changed |
| du | ändertest | you changed |
| er/sie/es | änderte | he/she/it changed |
| wir | änderten | we changed |
| ihr | ändertet | you (pl.) changed |
| sie/Sie | änderten | they changed |
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 geändert | I have changed |
| du | hast geändert | you have changed |
| er/sie/es | hat geändert | he/she/it has changed |
| wir | haben geändert | we have changed |
| ihr | habt geändert | you (pl.) have changed |
| sie/Sie | haben geändert | they have changed |
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 geändert | I had changed |
| du | hattest geändert | you had changed |
| er/sie/es | hatte geändert | he/she/it had changed |
| wir | hatten geändert | we had changed |
| ihr | hattet geändert | you (pl.) had changed |
| sie/Sie | hatten geändert | they had changed |
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 ändern | I will change |
| du | wirst ändern | you will change |
| er/sie/es | wird ändern | he/she/it will change |
| wir | werden ändern | we will change |
| ihr | werdet ändern | you (pl.) will change |
| sie/Sie | werden ändern | they will change |
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 geändert haben | I will have changed |
| du | wirst geändert haben | you will have changed |
| er/sie/es | wird geändert haben | he/she/it will have changed |
| wir | werden geändert haben | we will have changed |
| ihr | werdet geändert haben | you (pl.) will have changed |
| sie/Sie | werden geändert haben | they will have changed |
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 | änderte |
| du | ändertest |
| er/sie/es | änderte |
| wir | änderten |
| ihr | ändertet |
| sie/Sie | änderten |
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 | ändere |
| ihr | ändert |