danken — German conjugation
to thank
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 | danke | I thank |
| du | dankst | you thank |
| er/sie/es | dankt | he/she/it thanks |
| wir | danken | we thank |
| ihr | dankt | you (pl.) thank |
| sie/Sie | danken | they thank |
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 | dankte | I thanked |
| du | danktest | you thanked |
| er/sie/es | dankte | he/she/it thanked |
| wir | dankten | we thanked |
| ihr | danktet | you (pl.) thanked |
| sie/Sie | dankten | they thanked |
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 gedankt | I have thanked |
| du | hast gedankt | you have thanked |
| er/sie/es | hat gedankt | he/she/it has thanked |
| wir | haben gedankt | we have thanked |
| ihr | habt gedankt | you (pl.) have thanked |
| sie/Sie | haben gedankt | they have thanked |
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 gedankt | I had thanked |
| du | hattest gedankt | you had thanked |
| er/sie/es | hatte gedankt | he/she/it had thanked |
| wir | hatten gedankt | we had thanked |
| ihr | hattet gedankt | you (pl.) had thanked |
| sie/Sie | hatten gedankt | they had thanked |
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 danken | I will thank |
| du | wirst danken | you will thank |
| er/sie/es | wird danken | he/she/it will thank |
| wir | werden danken | we will thank |
| ihr | werdet danken | you (pl.) will thank |
| sie/Sie | werden danken | they will thank |
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 gedankt haben | I will have thanked |
| du | wirst gedankt haben | you will have thanked |
| er/sie/es | wird gedankt haben | he/she/it will have thanked |
| wir | werden gedankt haben | we will have thanked |
| ihr | werdet gedankt haben | you (pl.) will have thanked |
| sie/Sie | werden gedankt haben | they will have thanked |
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 | dankte |
| du | danktest |
| er/sie/es | dankte |
| wir | dankten |
| ihr | danktet |
| sie/Sie | dankten |
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 | danke |
| ihr | dankt |