anschreiben — German conjugation

to write to

Frequency#1741Irregular

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichschreibe anI write to
duschreibst anyou write to
er/sie/esschreibt anhe/she/it writes to
wirschreiben anwe write to
ihrschreibt anyou (pl.) write to
sie/Sieschreiben anthey 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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichschrieb anI wrote to
duschriebst anyou wrote to
er/sie/esschrieb anhe/she/it wrote to
wirschrieben anwe wrote to
ihrschriebt anyou (pl.) wrote to
sie/Sieschrieben anthey 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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhabe angeschriebenI have written to
duhast angeschriebenyou have written to
er/sie/eshat angeschriebenhe/she/it has written to
wirhaben angeschriebenwe have written to
ihrhabt angeschriebenyou (pl.) have written to
sie/Siehaben angeschriebenthey 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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhatte angeschriebenI had written to
duhattest angeschriebenyou had written to
er/sie/eshatte angeschriebenhe/she/it had written to
wirhatten angeschriebenwe had written to
ihrhattet angeschriebenyou (pl.) had written to
sie/Siehatten angeschriebenthey 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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde anschreibenI will write to
duwirst anschreibenyou will write to
er/sie/eswird anschreibenhe/she/it will write to
wirwerden anschreibenwe will write to
ihrwerdet anschreibenyou (pl.) will write to
sie/Siewerden anschreibenthey 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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde angeschrieben habenI will have written to
duwirst angeschrieben habenyou will have written to
er/sie/eswird angeschrieben habenhe/she/it will have written to
wirwerden angeschrieben habenwe will have written to
ihrwerdet angeschrieben habenyou (pl.) will have written to
sie/Siewerden angeschrieben habenthey 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?

PronounGerman
ichschriebe an
duschriebest an
er/sie/esschriebe an
wirschrieben an
ihrschriebet an
sie/Sieschrieben 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.

PronounGerman
duschreibe an
ihrschreibt an