anfahren — German conjugation
to approach
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 | fahre an | I approach |
| du | fährst an | you approach |
| er/sie/es | fährt an | he/she/it approaches |
| wir | fahren an | we approach |
| ihr | fahrt an | you (pl.) approach |
| sie/Sie | fahren an | they approach |
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 | fuhr an | I approached |
| du | fuhrst an | you approached |
| er/sie/es | fuhr an | he/she/it approached |
| wir | fuhren an | we approached |
| ihr | fuhrt an | you (pl.) approached |
| sie/Sie | fuhren an | they approached |
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 angefahren | I have approached |
| du | bist angefahren | you have approached |
| er/sie/es | ist angefahren | he/she/it has approached |
| wir | sind angefahren | we have approached |
| ihr | seid angefahren | you (pl.) have approached |
| sie/Sie | sind angefahren | they have approached |
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 angefahren | I had approached |
| du | warst angefahren | you had approached |
| er/sie/es | war angefahren | he/she/it had approached |
| wir | waren angefahren | we had approached |
| ihr | wart angefahren | you (pl.) had approached |
| sie/Sie | waren angefahren | they had approached |
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 anfahren | I will approach |
| du | wirst anfahren | you will approach |
| er/sie/es | wird anfahren | he/she/it will approach |
| wir | werden anfahren | we will approach |
| ihr | werdet anfahren | you (pl.) will approach |
| sie/Sie | werden anfahren | they will approach |
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 angefahren sein | I will have approached |
| du | wirst angefahren sein | you will have approached |
| er/sie/es | wird angefahren sein | he/she/it will have approached |
| wir | werden angefahren sein | we will have approached |
| ihr | werdet angefahren sein | you (pl.) will have approached |
| sie/Sie | werden angefahren sein | they will have approached |
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 | führe an |
| du | führest an |
| er/sie/es | führe an |
| wir | führen an |
| ihr | führet an |
| sie/Sie | führen an |
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 | fahre an |
| ihr | fahrt an |