durchbrechen — German conjugation

to break through

Frequency#1492Irregular

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichbreche durchI break through
dubrichst durchyou break through
er/sie/esbricht durchhe/she/it breaks through
wirbrechen durchwe break through
ihrbrecht durchyou (pl.) break through
sie/Siebrechen durchthey break through

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichbrach durchI broke through
dubrachst durchyou broke through
er/sie/esbrach durchhe/she/it broke through
wirbrachen durchwe broke through
ihrbracht durchyou (pl.) broke through
sie/Siebrachen durchthey broke through

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhabe durchgebrochenI have broken through
duhast durchgebrochenyou have broken through
er/sie/eshat durchgebrochenhe/she/it has broken through
wirhaben durchgebrochenwe have broken through
ihrhabt durchgebrochenyou (pl.) have broken through
sie/Siehaben durchgebrochenthey have broken through

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhatte durchgebrochenI had broken through
duhattest durchgebrochenyou had broken through
er/sie/eshatte durchgebrochenhe/she/it had broken through
wirhatten durchgebrochenwe had broken through
ihrhattet durchgebrochenyou (pl.) had broken through
sie/Siehatten durchgebrochenthey had broken through

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde durchbrechenI will break through
duwirst durchbrechenyou will break through
er/sie/eswird durchbrechenhe/she/it will break through
wirwerden durchbrechenwe will break through
ihrwerdet durchbrechenyou (pl.) will break through
sie/Siewerden durchbrechenthey will break through

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde durchgebrochen habenI will have broken through
duwirst durchgebrochen habenyou will have broken through
er/sie/eswird durchgebrochen habenhe/she/it will have broken through
wirwerden durchgebrochen habenwe will have broken through
ihrwerdet durchgebrochen habenyou (pl.) will have broken through
sie/Siewerden durchgebrochen habenthey will have broken through

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?

PronounGerman
ichbräche durch
dubrächest durch
er/sie/esbräche durch
wirbrächen durch
ihrbrächet durch
sie/Siebrächen durch

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.

PronounGerman
dubrich durch
ihrbrecht durch