angreifen — German conjugation
to attack
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 | greife an | I attack |
| du | greifst an | you attack |
| er/sie/es | greift an | he/she/it attacks |
| wir | greifen an | we attack |
| ihr | greift an | you (pl.) attack |
| sie/Sie | greifen an | they attack |
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 | griff an | I attacked |
| du | griffst an | you attacked |
| er/sie/es | griff an | he/she/it attacked |
| wir | griffen an | we attacked |
| ihr | grifft an | you (pl.) attacked |
| sie/Sie | griffen an | they attacked |
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 angegriffen | I have attacked |
| du | hast angegriffen | you have attacked |
| er/sie/es | hat angegriffen | he/she/it has attacked |
| wir | haben angegriffen | we have attacked |
| ihr | habt angegriffen | you (pl.) have attacked |
| sie/Sie | haben angegriffen | they have attacked |
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 angegriffen | I had attacked |
| du | hattest angegriffen | you had attacked |
| er/sie/es | hatte angegriffen | he/she/it had attacked |
| wir | hatten angegriffen | we had attacked |
| ihr | hattet angegriffen | you (pl.) had attacked |
| sie/Sie | hatten angegriffen | they had attacked |
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 angreifen | I will attack |
| du | wirst angreifen | you will attack |
| er/sie/es | wird angreifen | he/she/it will attack |
| wir | werden angreifen | we will attack |
| ihr | werdet angreifen | you (pl.) will attack |
| sie/Sie | werden angreifen | they will attack |
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 angegriffen haben | I will have attacked |
| du | wirst angegriffen haben | you will have attacked |
| er/sie/es | wird angegriffen haben | he/she/it will have attacked |
| wir | werden angegriffen haben | we will have attacked |
| ihr | werdet angegriffen haben | you (pl.) will have attacked |
| sie/Sie | werden angegriffen haben | they will have attacked |
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 | griffe an |
| du | griffest an |
| er/sie/es | griffe an |
| wir | griffen an |
| ihr | griffet an |
| sie/Sie | griffen 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 | greife an |
| ihr | greift an |