entscheiden — German conjugation
to decide
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 | entscheide | I decide |
| du | entscheidest | you decide |
| er/sie/es | entscheidet | he/she/it decides |
| wir | entscheiden | we decide |
| ihr | entscheidet | you (pl.) decide |
| sie/Sie | entscheiden | they decide |
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 | entschied | I decided |
| du | entschiedest | you decided |
| er/sie/es | entschied | he/she/it decided |
| wir | entschieden | we decided |
| ihr | entschiedet | you (pl.) decided |
| sie/Sie | entschieden | they decided |
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 entschieden | I have decided |
| du | hast entschieden | you have decided |
| er/sie/es | hat entschieden | he/she/it has decided |
| wir | haben entschieden | we have decided |
| ihr | habt entschieden | you (pl.) have decided |
| sie/Sie | haben entschieden | they have decided |
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 entschieden | I had decided |
| du | hattest entschieden | you had decided |
| er/sie/es | hatte entschieden | he/she/it had decided |
| wir | hatten entschieden | we had decided |
| ihr | hattet entschieden | you (pl.) had decided |
| sie/Sie | hatten entschieden | they had decided |
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 entscheiden | I will decide |
| du | wirst entscheiden | you will decide |
| er/sie/es | wird entscheiden | he/she/it will decide |
| wir | werden entscheiden | we will decide |
| ihr | werdet entscheiden | you (pl.) will decide |
| sie/Sie | werden entscheiden | they will decide |
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 entschieden haben | I will have decided |
| du | wirst entschieden haben | you will have decided |
| er/sie/es | wird entschieden haben | he/she/it will have decided |
| wir | werden entschieden haben | we will have decided |
| ihr | werdet entschieden haben | you (pl.) will have decided |
| sie/Sie | werden entschieden haben | they will have decided |
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 | entschiede |
| du | entschiedest |
| er/sie/es | entschiede |
| wir | entschieden |
| ihr | entschiedet |
| sie/Sie | entschieden |
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 | entscheide |
| ihr | entscheidet |