erfinden — German conjugation
to invent
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 | erfinde | I invent |
| du | erfindest | you invent |
| er/sie/es | erfindet | he/she/it invents |
| wir | erfinden | we invent |
| ihr | erfindet | you (pl.) invent |
| sie/Sie | erfinden | they invent |
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 | erfand | I invented |
| du | erfandest | you invented |
| er/sie/es | erfand | he/she/it invented |
| wir | erfanden | we invented |
| ihr | erfandet | you (pl.) invented |
| sie/Sie | erfanden | they invented |
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 erfunden | I have invented |
| du | hast erfunden | you have invented |
| er/sie/es | hat erfunden | he/she/it has invented |
| wir | haben erfunden | we have invented |
| ihr | habt erfunden | you (pl.) have invented |
| sie/Sie | haben erfunden | they have invented |
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 erfunden | I had invented |
| du | hattest erfunden | you had invented |
| er/sie/es | hatte erfunden | he/she/it had invented |
| wir | hatten erfunden | we had invented |
| ihr | hattet erfunden | you (pl.) had invented |
| sie/Sie | hatten erfunden | they had invented |
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 erfinden | I will invent |
| du | wirst erfinden | you will invent |
| er/sie/es | wird erfinden | he/she/it will invent |
| wir | werden erfinden | we will invent |
| ihr | werdet erfinden | you (pl.) will invent |
| sie/Sie | werden erfinden | they will invent |
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 erfunden haben | I will have invented |
| du | wirst erfunden haben | you will have invented |
| er/sie/es | wird erfunden haben | he/she/it will have invented |
| wir | werden erfunden haben | we will have invented |
| ihr | werdet erfunden haben | you (pl.) will have invented |
| sie/Sie | werden erfunden haben | they will have invented |
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 | erfände |
| du | erfändest |
| er/sie/es | erfände |
| wir | erfänden |
| ihr | erfändet |
| sie/Sie | erfänden |
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 | erfinde |
| ihr | erfindet |