ereignen (sich) — German conjugation
to occur, happen
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 | ereigne mich | I occur |
| du | ereignest dich | you occur |
| er/sie/es | ereignet sich | he/she/it occurs |
| wir | ereignen uns | we occur |
| ihr | ereignet euch | you (pl.) occur |
| sie/Sie | ereignen sich | they occur |
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 | ereignete mich | I occurred |
| du | ereignetest dich | you occurred |
| er/sie/es | ereignete sich | he/she/it occurred |
| wir | ereigneten uns | we occurred |
| ihr | ereignetet euch | you (pl.) occurred |
| sie/Sie | ereigneten sich | they occurred |
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 mich ereignet | I have occurred |
| du | hast dich ereignet | you have occurred |
| er/sie/es | hat sich ereignet | he/she/it has occurred |
| wir | haben uns ereignet | we have occurred |
| ihr | habt euch ereignet | you (pl.) have occurred |
| sie/Sie | haben sich ereignet | they have occurred |
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 mich ereignet | I had occurred |
| du | hattest dich ereignet | you had occurred |
| er/sie/es | hatte sich ereignet | he/she/it had occurred |
| wir | hatten uns ereignet | we had occurred |
| ihr | hattet euch ereignet | you (pl.) had occurred |
| sie/Sie | hatten sich ereignet | they had occurred |
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 mich ereignen | I will occur |
| du | wirst dich ereignen | you will occur |
| er/sie/es | wird sich ereignen | he/she/it will occur |
| wir | werden uns ereignen | we will occur |
| ihr | werdet euch ereignen | you (pl.) will occur |
| sie/Sie | werden sich ereignen | they will occur |
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 mich ereignet haben | I will have occurred |
| du | wirst dich ereignet haben | you will have occurred |
| er/sie/es | wird sich ereignet haben | he/she/it will have occurred |
| wir | werden uns ereignet haben | we will have occurred |
| ihr | werdet euch ereignet haben | you (pl.) will have occurred |
| sie/Sie | werden sich ereignet haben | they will have occurred |
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 | ereignete mich |
| du | ereignetest dich |
| er/sie/es | ereignete sich |
| wir | ereigneten uns |
| ihr | ereignetet euch |
| sie/Sie | ereigneten sich |
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 | ereigne dich |
| ihr | ereignet euch |