decken — German conjugation
to cover
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 | decke | I cover |
| du | deckst | you cover |
| er/sie/es | deckt | he/she/it covers |
| wir | decken | we cover |
| ihr | deckt | you (pl.) cover |
| sie/Sie | decken | they cover |
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 | deckte | I covered |
| du | decktest | you covered |
| er/sie/es | deckte | he/she/it covered |
| wir | deckten | we covered |
| ihr | decktet | you (pl.) covered |
| sie/Sie | deckten | they covered |
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 gedeckt | I have covered |
| du | hast gedeckt | you have covered |
| er/sie/es | hat gedeckt | he/she/it has covered |
| wir | haben gedeckt | we have covered |
| ihr | habt gedeckt | you (pl.) have covered |
| sie/Sie | haben gedeckt | they have covered |
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 gedeckt | I had covered |
| du | hattest gedeckt | you had covered |
| er/sie/es | hatte gedeckt | he/she/it had covered |
| wir | hatten gedeckt | we had covered |
| ihr | hattet gedeckt | you (pl.) had covered |
| sie/Sie | hatten gedeckt | they had covered |
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 decken | I will cover |
| du | wirst decken | you will cover |
| er/sie/es | wird decken | he/she/it will cover |
| wir | werden decken | we will cover |
| ihr | werdet decken | you (pl.) will cover |
| sie/Sie | werden decken | they will cover |
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 gedeckt haben | I will have covered |
| du | wirst gedeckt haben | you will have covered |
| er/sie/es | wird gedeckt haben | he/she/it will have covered |
| wir | werden gedeckt haben | we will have covered |
| ihr | werdet gedeckt haben | you (pl.) will have covered |
| sie/Sie | werden gedeckt haben | they will have covered |
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 | deckte |
| du | decktest |
| er/sie/es | deckte |
| wir | deckten |
| ihr | decktet |
| sie/Sie | deckten |
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 | decke |
| ihr | deckt |