ankommen — German conjugation
to arrive
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 | komme an | I arrive |
| du | kommst an | you arrive |
| er/sie/es | kommt an | he/she/it arrives |
| wir | kommen an | we arrive |
| ihr | kommt an | you (pl.) arrive |
| sie/Sie | kommen an | they arrive |
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 | kam an | I arrived |
| du | kamst an | you arrived |
| er/sie/es | kam an | he/she/it arrived |
| wir | kamen an | we arrived |
| ihr | kamt an | you (pl.) arrived |
| sie/Sie | kamen an | they arrived |
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 angekommen | I have arrived |
| du | bist angekommen | you have arrived |
| er/sie/es | ist angekommen | he/she/it has arrived |
| wir | sind angekommen | we have arrived |
| ihr | seid angekommen | you (pl.) have arrived |
| sie/Sie | sind angekommen | they have arrived |
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 angekommen | I had arrived |
| du | warst angekommen | you had arrived |
| er/sie/es | war angekommen | he/she/it had arrived |
| wir | waren angekommen | we had arrived |
| ihr | wart angekommen | you (pl.) had arrived |
| sie/Sie | waren angekommen | they had arrived |
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 ankommen | I will arrive |
| du | wirst ankommen | you will arrive |
| er/sie/es | wird ankommen | he/she/it will arrive |
| wir | werden ankommen | we will arrive |
| ihr | werdet ankommen | you (pl.) will arrive |
| sie/Sie | werden ankommen | they will arrive |
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 angekommen sein | I will have arrived |
| du | wirst angekommen sein | you will have arrived |
| er/sie/es | wird angekommen sein | he/she/it will have arrived |
| wir | werden angekommen sein | we will have arrived |
| ihr | werdet angekommen sein | you (pl.) will have arrived |
| sie/Sie | werden angekommen sein | they will have arrived |
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 | käme an |
| du | kämest an |
| er/sie/es | käme an |
| wir | kämen an |
| ihr | kämet an |
| sie/Sie | kämen 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 | komme an |
| ihr | kommt an |