backen — German conjugation
to bake
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 | backe | I bake |
| du | bäckst | you bake |
| er/sie/es | bäckt | he/she/it bakes |
| wir | backen | we bake |
| ihr | backt | you (pl.) bake |
| sie/Sie | backen | they bake |
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 | backte | I baked |
| du | backtest | you baked |
| er/sie/es | backte | he/she/it baked |
| wir | backten | we baked |
| ihr | backtet | you (pl.) baked |
| sie/Sie | backten | they baked |
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 gebacken | I have baked |
| du | hast gebacken | you have baked |
| er/sie/es | hat gebacken | he/she/it has baked |
| wir | haben gebacken | we have baked |
| ihr | habt gebacken | you (pl.) have baked |
| sie/Sie | haben gebacken | they have baked |
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 gebacken | I had baked |
| du | hattest gebacken | you had baked |
| er/sie/es | hatte gebacken | he/she/it had baked |
| wir | hatten gebacken | we had baked |
| ihr | hattet gebacken | you (pl.) had baked |
| sie/Sie | hatten gebacken | they had baked |
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 backen | I will bake |
| du | wirst backen | you will bake |
| er/sie/es | wird backen | he/she/it will bake |
| wir | werden backen | we will bake |
| ihr | werdet backen | you (pl.) will bake |
| sie/Sie | werden backen | they will bake |
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 gebacken haben | I will have baked |
| du | wirst gebacken haben | you will have baked |
| er/sie/es | wird gebacken haben | he/she/it will have baked |
| wir | werden gebacken haben | we will have baked |
| ihr | werdet gebacken haben | you (pl.) will have baked |
| sie/Sie | werden gebacken haben | they will have baked |
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 | backte |
| du | backtest |
| er/sie/es | backte |
| wir | backten |
| ihr | backtet |
| sie/Sie | backten |
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 | backe |
| ihr | backt |