antreten — German conjugation
to start
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 | trete an | I start |
| du | trittst an | you start |
| er/sie/es | tritt an | he/she/it starts |
| wir | treten an | we start |
| ihr | tretet an | you (pl.) start |
| sie/Sie | treten an | they start |
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 | trat an | I started |
| du | tratest an | you started |
| er/sie/es | trat an | he/she/it started |
| wir | traten an | we started |
| ihr | tratet an | you (pl.) started |
| sie/Sie | traten an | they started |
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 | bin angetreten | I have started |
| du | bist angetreten | you have started |
| er/sie/es | ist angetreten | he/she/it has started |
| wir | sind angetreten | we have started |
| ihr | seid angetreten | you (pl.) have started |
| sie/Sie | sind angetreten | they have started |
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 | war angetreten | I had started |
| du | warst angetreten | you had started |
| er/sie/es | war angetreten | he/she/it had started |
| wir | waren angetreten | we had started |
| ihr | wart angetreten | you (pl.) had started |
| sie/Sie | waren angetreten | they had started |
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 antreten | I will start |
| du | wirst antreten | you will start |
| er/sie/es | wird antreten | he/she/it will start |
| wir | werden antreten | we will start |
| ihr | werdet antreten | you (pl.) will start |
| sie/Sie | werden antreten | they will start |
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 angetreten sein | I will have started |
| du | wirst angetreten sein | you will have started |
| er/sie/es | wird angetreten sein | he/she/it will have started |
| wir | werden angetreten sein | we will have started |
| ihr | werdet angetreten sein | you (pl.) will have started |
| sie/Sie | werden angetreten sein | they will have started |
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 | träte an |
| du | trätest an |
| er/sie/es | träte an |
| wir | träten an |
| ihr | trätet an |
| sie/Sie | träten 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 | tritt an |
| ihr | tretet an |