anspielen — German conjugation
to play
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 | spiele an | I play |
| du | spielst an | you play |
| er/sie/es | spielt an | he/she/it plays |
| wir | spielen an | we play |
| ihr | spielt an | you (pl.) play |
| sie/Sie | spielen an | they play |
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 | spielte an | I played |
| du | spieltest an | you played |
| er/sie/es | spielte an | he/she/it played |
| wir | spielten an | we played |
| ihr | spieltet an | you (pl.) played |
| sie/Sie | spielten an | they played |
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 angespielt | I have played |
| du | hast angespielt | you have played |
| er/sie/es | hat angespielt | he/she/it has played |
| wir | haben angespielt | we have played |
| ihr | habt angespielt | you (pl.) have played |
| sie/Sie | haben angespielt | they have played |
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 angespielt | I had played |
| du | hattest angespielt | you had played |
| er/sie/es | hatte angespielt | he/she/it had played |
| wir | hatten angespielt | we had played |
| ihr | hattet angespielt | you (pl.) had played |
| sie/Sie | hatten angespielt | they had played |
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 anspielen | I will play |
| du | wirst anspielen | you will play |
| er/sie/es | wird anspielen | he/she/it will play |
| wir | werden anspielen | we will play |
| ihr | werdet anspielen | you (pl.) will play |
| sie/Sie | werden anspielen | they will play |
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 angespielt haben | I will have played |
| du | wirst angespielt haben | you will have played |
| er/sie/es | wird angespielt haben | he/she/it will have played |
| wir | werden angespielt haben | we will have played |
| ihr | werdet angespielt haben | you (pl.) will have played |
| sie/Sie | werden angespielt haben | they will have played |
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 | spielte an |
| du | spieltest an |
| er/sie/es | spielte an |
| wir | spielten an |
| ihr | spieltet an |
| sie/Sie | spielten 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 | spiele an |
| ihr | spielt an |