anrufen — German conjugation
to call
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 | rufe an | I call |
| du | rufst an | you call |
| er/sie/es | ruft an | he/she/it calls |
| wir | rufen an | we call |
| ihr | ruft an | you (pl.) call |
| sie/Sie | rufen an | they call |
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 | rief an | I called |
| du | riefst an | you called |
| er/sie/es | rief an | he/she/it called |
| wir | riefen an | we called |
| ihr | rieft an | you (pl.) called |
| sie/Sie | riefen an | they called |
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 angerufen | I have called |
| du | hast angerufen | you have called |
| er/sie/es | hat angerufen | he/she/it has called |
| wir | haben angerufen | we have called |
| ihr | habt angerufen | you (pl.) have called |
| sie/Sie | haben angerufen | they have called |
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 angerufen | I had called |
| du | hattest angerufen | you had called |
| er/sie/es | hatte angerufen | he/she/it had called |
| wir | hatten angerufen | we had called |
| ihr | hattet angerufen | you (pl.) had called |
| sie/Sie | hatten angerufen | they had called |
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 anrufen | I will call |
| du | wirst anrufen | you will call |
| er/sie/es | wird anrufen | he/she/it will call |
| wir | werden anrufen | we will call |
| ihr | werdet anrufen | you (pl.) will call |
| sie/Sie | werden anrufen | they will call |
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 angerufen haben | I will have called |
| du | wirst angerufen haben | you will have called |
| er/sie/es | wird angerufen haben | he/she/it will have called |
| wir | werden angerufen haben | we will have called |
| ihr | werdet angerufen haben | you (pl.) will have called |
| sie/Sie | werden angerufen haben | they will have called |
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 | riefe an |
| du | riefest an |
| er/sie/es | riefe an |
| wir | riefen an |
| ihr | riefet an |
| sie/Sie | riefen 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 | rufe an |
| ihr | ruft an |