ernähren — German conjugation
to nourish
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 | ernähre | I nourish |
| du | ernährst | you nourish |
| er/sie/es | ernährt | he/she/it nourishes |
| wir | ernähren | we nourish |
| ihr | ernährt | you (pl.) nourish |
| sie/Sie | ernähren | they nourish |
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 | ernährte | I nourished |
| du | ernährtest | you nourished |
| er/sie/es | ernährte | he/she/it nourished |
| wir | ernährten | we nourished |
| ihr | ernährtet | you (pl.) nourished |
| sie/Sie | ernährten | they nourished |
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 ernährt | I have nourished |
| du | hast ernährt | you have nourished |
| er/sie/es | hat ernährt | he/she/it has nourished |
| wir | haben ernährt | we have nourished |
| ihr | habt ernährt | you (pl.) have nourished |
| sie/Sie | haben ernährt | they have nourished |
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 ernährt | I had nourished |
| du | hattest ernährt | you had nourished |
| er/sie/es | hatte ernährt | he/she/it had nourished |
| wir | hatten ernährt | we had nourished |
| ihr | hattet ernährt | you (pl.) had nourished |
| sie/Sie | hatten ernährt | they had nourished |
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 ernähren | I will nourish |
| du | wirst ernähren | you will nourish |
| er/sie/es | wird ernähren | he/she/it will nourish |
| wir | werden ernähren | we will nourish |
| ihr | werdet ernähren | you (pl.) will nourish |
| sie/Sie | werden ernähren | they will nourish |
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 ernährt haben | I will have nourished |
| du | wirst ernährt haben | you will have nourished |
| er/sie/es | wird ernährt haben | he/she/it will have nourished |
| wir | werden ernährt haben | we will have nourished |
| ihr | werdet ernährt haben | you (pl.) will have nourished |
| sie/Sie | werden ernährt haben | they will have nourished |
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 | ernährte |
| du | ernährtest |
| er/sie/es | ernährte |
| wir | ernährten |
| ihr | ernährtet |
| sie/Sie | ernährten |
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 | ernähre |
| ihr | ernährt |