anlehnen — German conjugation
to lean against
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 | lehne an | I lean against |
| du | lehnst an | you lean against |
| er/sie/es | lehnt an | he/she/it leans against |
| wir | lehnen an | we lean against |
| ihr | lehnt an | you (pl.) lean against |
| sie/Sie | lehnen an | they lean against |
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 | lehnte an | I leaned against |
| du | lehntest an | you leaned against |
| er/sie/es | lehnte an | he/she/it leaned against |
| wir | lehnten an | we leaned against |
| ihr | lehntet an | you (pl.) leaned against |
| sie/Sie | lehnten an | they leaned against |
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 angelehnt | I have leaned against |
| du | hast angelehnt | you have leaned against |
| er/sie/es | hat angelehnt | he/she/it has leaned against |
| wir | haben angelehnt | we have leaned against |
| ihr | habt angelehnt | you (pl.) have leaned against |
| sie/Sie | haben angelehnt | they have leaned against |
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 angelehnt | I had leaned against |
| du | hattest angelehnt | you had leaned against |
| er/sie/es | hatte angelehnt | he/she/it had leaned against |
| wir | hatten angelehnt | we had leaned against |
| ihr | hattet angelehnt | you (pl.) had leaned against |
| sie/Sie | hatten angelehnt | they had leaned against |
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 anlehnen | I will lean against |
| du | wirst anlehnen | you will lean against |
| er/sie/es | wird anlehnen | he/she/it will lean against |
| wir | werden anlehnen | we will lean against |
| ihr | werdet anlehnen | you (pl.) will lean against |
| sie/Sie | werden anlehnen | they will lean against |
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 angelehnt haben | I will have leaned against |
| du | wirst angelehnt haben | you will have leaned against |
| er/sie/es | wird angelehnt haben | he/she/it will have leaned against |
| wir | werden angelehnt haben | we will have leaned against |
| ihr | werdet angelehnt haben | you (pl.) will have leaned against |
| sie/Sie | werden angelehnt haben | they will have leaned against |
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 | lehnte an |
| du | lehntest an |
| er/sie/es | lehnte an |
| wir | lehnten an |
| ihr | lehntet an |
| sie/Sie | lehnten an |
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 | lehne an |
| ihr | lehnt an |