anschalten — German conjugation
to switch on
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 | schalte an | I switch on |
| du | schaltest an | you switch on |
| er/sie/es | schaltet an | he/she/it switches on |
| wir | schalten an | we switch on |
| ihr | schaltet an | you (pl.) switch on |
| sie/Sie | schalten an | they switch on |
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 | schaltete an | I switched on |
| du | schaltetest an | you switched on |
| er/sie/es | schaltete an | he/she/it switched on |
| wir | schalteten an | we switched on |
| ihr | schaltetet an | you (pl.) switched on |
| sie/Sie | schalteten an | they switched on |
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 angeschaltet | I have switched on |
| du | hast angeschaltet | you have switched on |
| er/sie/es | hat angeschaltet | he/she/it has switched on |
| wir | haben angeschaltet | we have switched on |
| ihr | habt angeschaltet | you (pl.) have switched on |
| sie/Sie | haben angeschaltet | they have switched on |
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 angeschaltet | I had switched on |
| du | hattest angeschaltet | you had switched on |
| er/sie/es | hatte angeschaltet | he/she/it had switched on |
| wir | hatten angeschaltet | we had switched on |
| ihr | hattet angeschaltet | you (pl.) had switched on |
| sie/Sie | hatten angeschaltet | they had switched on |
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 anschalten | I will switch on |
| du | wirst anschalten | you will switch on |
| er/sie/es | wird anschalten | he/she/it will switch on |
| wir | werden anschalten | we will switch on |
| ihr | werdet anschalten | you (pl.) will switch on |
| sie/Sie | werden anschalten | they will switch on |
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 angeschaltet haben | I will have switched on |
| du | wirst angeschaltet haben | you will have switched on |
| er/sie/es | wird angeschaltet haben | he/she/it will have switched on |
| wir | werden angeschaltet haben | we will have switched on |
| ihr | werdet angeschaltet haben | you (pl.) will have switched on |
| sie/Sie | werden angeschaltet haben | they will have switched on |
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 | schaltete an |
| du | schaltetest an |
| er/sie/es | schaltete an |
| wir | schalteten an |
| ihr | schaltetet an |
| sie/Sie | schalteten 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 | schalte an |
| ihr | schaltet an |