Conjunation

anfangen — German conjugation

to begin

Frequency#68Irregular

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichfange anI begin
dufängst anyou begin
er/sie/esfängt anhe/she/it begins
wirfangen anwe begin
ihrfangt anyou (pl.) begin
sie/Siefangen anthey begin

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichfing anI began
dufingst anyou began
er/sie/esfing anhe/she/it began
wirfingen anwe began
ihrfingt anyou (pl.) began
sie/Siefingen anthey began

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhabe angefangenI have begun
duhast angefangenyou have begun
er/sie/eshat angefangenhe/she/it has begun
wirhaben angefangenwe have begun
ihrhabt angefangenyou (pl.) have begun
sie/Siehaben angefangenthey have begun

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhatte angefangenI had begun
duhattest angefangenyou had begun
er/sie/eshatte angefangenhe/she/it had begun
wirhatten angefangenwe had begun
ihrhattet angefangenyou (pl.) had begun
sie/Siehatten angefangenthey had begun

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde anfangenI will begin
duwirst anfangenyou will begin
er/sie/eswird anfangenhe/she/it will begin
wirwerden anfangenwe will begin
ihrwerdet anfangenyou (pl.) will begin
sie/Siewerden anfangenthey will begin

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde angefangen habenI will have begun
duwirst angefangen habenyou will have begun
er/sie/eswird angefangen habenhe/she/it will have begun
wirwerden angefangen habenwe will have begun
ihrwerdet angefangen habenyou (pl.) will have begun
sie/Siewerden angefangen habenthey will have begun

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?

PronounGerman
ichfinge an
dufingest an
er/sie/esfinge an
wirfingen an
ihrfinget an
sie/Siefingen 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.

PronounGerman
dufange an
ihrfangt an

Verbs near anfangen

einsteigen · folgen · aufhören · öffnen · schließen · addieren · enden · ausgeben · warten · vergessen