dichten — German conjugation
to write (poetry)
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 | dichte | I write |
| du | dichtest | you write |
| er/sie/es | dichtet | he/she/it writes |
| wir | dichten | we write |
| ihr | dichtet | you (pl.) write |
| sie/Sie | dichten | they write |
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 | dichtete | I wrote |
| du | dichtetest | you wrote |
| er/sie/es | dichtete | he/she/it wrote |
| wir | dichteten | we wrote |
| ihr | dichtetet | you (pl.) wrote |
| sie/Sie | dichteten | they wrote |
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 gedichtet | I have written |
| du | hast gedichtet | you have written |
| er/sie/es | hat gedichtet | he/she/it has written |
| wir | haben gedichtet | we have written |
| ihr | habt gedichtet | you (pl.) have written |
| sie/Sie | haben gedichtet | they have written |
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 gedichtet | I had written |
| du | hattest gedichtet | you had written |
| er/sie/es | hatte gedichtet | he/she/it had written |
| wir | hatten gedichtet | we had written |
| ihr | hattet gedichtet | you (pl.) had written |
| sie/Sie | hatten gedichtet | they had written |
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 dichten | I will write |
| du | wirst dichten | you will write |
| er/sie/es | wird dichten | he/she/it will write |
| wir | werden dichten | we will write |
| ihr | werdet dichten | you (pl.) will write |
| sie/Sie | werden dichten | they will write |
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 gedichtet haben | I will have written |
| du | wirst gedichtet haben | you will have written |
| er/sie/es | wird gedichtet haben | he/she/it will have written |
| wir | werden gedichtet haben | we will have written |
| ihr | werdet gedichtet haben | you (pl.) will have written |
| sie/Sie | werden gedichtet haben | they will have written |
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 | dichtete |
| du | dichtetest |
| er/sie/es | dichtete |
| wir | dichteten |
| ihr | dichtetet |
| sie/Sie | dichteten |
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 | dichte |
| ihr | dichtet |