dürfen — German conjugation
to be allowed to
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 | darf | I am allowed to |
| du | darfst | you are allowed to |
| er/sie/es | darf | he/she/it is allowed to |
| wir | dürfen | we are allowed to |
| ihr | dürft | you (pl.) are allowed to |
| sie/Sie | dürfen | they are allowed to |
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 | durfte | I was allowed to |
| du | durftest | you were allowed to |
| er/sie/es | durfte | he/she/it was allowed to |
| wir | durften | we were allowed to |
| ihr | durftet | you (pl.) were allowed to |
| sie/Sie | durften | they were allowed to |
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 gedurft | I have been allowed to |
| du | hast gedurft | you have been allowed to |
| er/sie/es | hat gedurft | he/she/it has been allowed to |
| wir | haben gedurft | we have been allowed to |
| ihr | habt gedurft | you (pl.) have been allowed to |
| sie/Sie | haben gedurft | they have been allowed to |
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 gedurft | I had been allowed to |
| du | hattest gedurft | you had been allowed to |
| er/sie/es | hatte gedurft | he/she/it had been allowed to |
| wir | hatten gedurft | we had been allowed to |
| ihr | hattet gedurft | you (pl.) had been allowed to |
| sie/Sie | hatten gedurft | they had been allowed to |
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 dürfen | I will be allowed to |
| du | wirst dürfen | you will be allowed to |
| er/sie/es | wird dürfen | he/she/it will be allowed to |
| wir | werden dürfen | we will be allowed to |
| ihr | werdet dürfen | you (pl.) will be allowed to |
| sie/Sie | werden dürfen | they will be allowed to |
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 gedurft haben | I will have been allowed to |
| du | wirst gedurft haben | you will have been allowed to |
| er/sie/es | wird gedurft haben | he/she/it will have been allowed to |
| wir | werden gedurft haben | we will have been allowed to |
| ihr | werdet gedurft haben | you (pl.) will have been allowed to |
| sie/Sie | werden gedurft haben | they will have been allowed to |
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 | dürfte |
| du | dürftest |
| er/sie/es | dürfte |
| wir | dürften |
| ihr | dürftet |
| sie/Sie | dürften |
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 | dürfe |
| ihr | dürft |