erhalten — German conjugation
to receive
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 | erhalte | I receive |
| du | erhältst | you receive |
| er/sie/es | erhält | he/she/it receives |
| wir | erhalten | we receive |
| ihr | erhaltet | you (pl.) receive |
| sie/Sie | erhalten | they receive |
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 | erhielt | I received |
| du | erhieltest | you received |
| er/sie/es | erhielt | he/she/it received |
| wir | erhielten | we received |
| ihr | erhieltet | you (pl.) received |
| sie/Sie | erhielten | they received |
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 erhalten | I have received |
| du | hast erhalten | you have received |
| er/sie/es | hat erhalten | he/she/it has received |
| wir | haben erhalten | we have received |
| ihr | habt erhalten | you (pl.) have received |
| sie/Sie | haben erhalten | they have received |
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 erhalten | I had received |
| du | hattest erhalten | you had received |
| er/sie/es | hatte erhalten | he/she/it had received |
| wir | hatten erhalten | we had received |
| ihr | hattet erhalten | you (pl.) had received |
| sie/Sie | hatten erhalten | they had received |
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 erhalten | I will receive |
| du | wirst erhalten | you will receive |
| er/sie/es | wird erhalten | he/she/it will receive |
| wir | werden erhalten | we will receive |
| ihr | werdet erhalten | you (pl.) will receive |
| sie/Sie | werden erhalten | they will receive |
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 erhalten haben | I will have received |
| du | wirst erhalten haben | you will have received |
| er/sie/es | wird erhalten haben | he/she/it will have received |
| wir | werden erhalten haben | we will have received |
| ihr | werdet erhalten haben | you (pl.) will have received |
| sie/Sie | werden erhalten haben | they will have received |
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 | erhielte |
| du | erhieltest |
| er/sie/es | erhielte |
| wir | erhielten |
| ihr | erhieltet |
| sie/Sie | erhielten |
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 | erhalte |
| ihr | erhaltet |