anreden — German conjugation
to address
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 | rede an | I address |
| du | redest an | you address |
| er/sie/es | redet an | he/she/it addresses |
| wir | reden an | we address |
| ihr | redet an | you (pl.) address |
| sie/Sie | reden an | they address |
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 | redete an | I addressed |
| du | redetest an | you addressed |
| er/sie/es | redete an | he/she/it addressed |
| wir | redeten an | we addressed |
| ihr | redetet an | you (pl.) addressed |
| sie/Sie | redeten an | they addressed |
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 angeredet | I have addressed |
| du | hast angeredet | you have addressed |
| er/sie/es | hat angeredet | he/she/it has addressed |
| wir | haben angeredet | we have addressed |
| ihr | habt angeredet | you (pl.) have addressed |
| sie/Sie | haben angeredet | they have addressed |
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 angeredet | I had addressed |
| du | hattest angeredet | you had addressed |
| er/sie/es | hatte angeredet | he/she/it had addressed |
| wir | hatten angeredet | we had addressed |
| ihr | hattet angeredet | you (pl.) had addressed |
| sie/Sie | hatten angeredet | they had addressed |
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 anreden | I will address |
| du | wirst anreden | you will address |
| er/sie/es | wird anreden | he/she/it will address |
| wir | werden anreden | we will address |
| ihr | werdet anreden | you (pl.) will address |
| sie/Sie | werden anreden | they will address |
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 angeredet haben | I will have addressed |
| du | wirst angeredet haben | you will have addressed |
| er/sie/es | wird angeredet haben | he/she/it will have addressed |
| wir | werden angeredet haben | we will have addressed |
| ihr | werdet angeredet haben | you (pl.) will have addressed |
| sie/Sie | werden angeredet haben | they will have addressed |
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 | redete an |
| du | redetest an |
| er/sie/es | redete an |
| wir | redeten an |
| ihr | redetet an |
| sie/Sie | redeten 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 | rede an |
| ihr | redet an |