anschreiben — German conjugation
to write to
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 | schreibe an | I write to |
| du | schreibst an | you write to |
| er/sie/es | schreibt an | he/she/it writes to |
| wir | schreiben an | we write to |
| ihr | schreibt an | you (pl.) write to |
| sie/Sie | schreiben an | they write to |
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 | schrieb an | I wrote to |
| du | schriebst an | you wrote to |
| er/sie/es | schrieb an | he/she/it wrote to |
| wir | schrieben an | we wrote to |
| ihr | schriebt an | you (pl.) wrote to |
| sie/Sie | schrieben an | they wrote to |
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 angeschrieben | I have written to |
| du | hast angeschrieben | you have written to |
| er/sie/es | hat angeschrieben | he/she/it has written to |
| wir | haben angeschrieben | we have written to |
| ihr | habt angeschrieben | you (pl.) have written to |
| sie/Sie | haben angeschrieben | they have written to |
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 angeschrieben | I had written to |
| du | hattest angeschrieben | you had written to |
| er/sie/es | hatte angeschrieben | he/she/it had written to |
| wir | hatten angeschrieben | we had written to |
| ihr | hattet angeschrieben | you (pl.) had written to |
| sie/Sie | hatten angeschrieben | they had written to |
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 anschreiben | I will write to |
| du | wirst anschreiben | you will write to |
| er/sie/es | wird anschreiben | he/she/it will write to |
| wir | werden anschreiben | we will write to |
| ihr | werdet anschreiben | you (pl.) will write to |
| sie/Sie | werden anschreiben | they will write to |
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 angeschrieben haben | I will have written to |
| du | wirst angeschrieben haben | you will have written to |
| er/sie/es | wird angeschrieben haben | he/she/it will have written to |
| wir | werden angeschrieben haben | we will have written to |
| ihr | werdet angeschrieben haben | you (pl.) will have written to |
| sie/Sie | werden angeschrieben haben | they will have written to |
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 | schriebe an |
| du | schriebest an |
| er/sie/es | schriebe an |
| wir | schrieben an |
| ihr | schriebet an |
| sie/Sie | schrieben 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 | schreibe an |
| ihr | schreibt an |