anstrengen — German conjugation
to exert (oneself)
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 | strenge an | I exert |
| du | strengst an | you exert |
| er/sie/es | strengt an | he/she/it exerts |
| wir | strengen an | we exert |
| ihr | strengt an | you (pl.) exert |
| sie/Sie | strengen an | they exert |
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 | strengte an | I exerted |
| du | strengtest an | you exerted |
| er/sie/es | strengte an | he/she/it exerted |
| wir | strengten an | we exerted |
| ihr | strengtet an | you (pl.) exerted |
| sie/Sie | strengten an | they exerted |
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 angestrengt | I have exerted |
| du | hast angestrengt | you have exerted |
| er/sie/es | hat angestrengt | he/she/it has exerted |
| wir | haben angestrengt | we have exerted |
| ihr | habt angestrengt | you (pl.) have exerted |
| sie/Sie | haben angestrengt | they have exerted |
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 angestrengt | I had exerted |
| du | hattest angestrengt | you had exerted |
| er/sie/es | hatte angestrengt | he/she/it had exerted |
| wir | hatten angestrengt | we had exerted |
| ihr | hattet angestrengt | you (pl.) had exerted |
| sie/Sie | hatten angestrengt | they had exerted |
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 anstrengen | I will exert |
| du | wirst anstrengen | you will exert |
| er/sie/es | wird anstrengen | he/she/it will exert |
| wir | werden anstrengen | we will exert |
| ihr | werdet anstrengen | you (pl.) will exert |
| sie/Sie | werden anstrengen | they will exert |
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 angestrengt haben | I will have exerted |
| du | wirst angestrengt haben | you will have exerted |
| er/sie/es | wird angestrengt haben | he/she/it will have exerted |
| wir | werden angestrengt haben | we will have exerted |
| ihr | werdet angestrengt haben | you (pl.) will have exerted |
| sie/Sie | werden angestrengt haben | they will have exerted |
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 | strengte an |
| du | strengtest an |
| er/sie/es | strengte an |
| wir | strengten an |
| ihr | strengtet an |
| sie/Sie | strengten 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 | strenge an |
| ihr | strengt an |