erscheinen — German conjugation
to appear
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 | erscheine | I appear |
| du | erscheinst | you appear |
| er/sie/es | erscheint | he/she/it appears |
| wir | erscheinen | we appear |
| ihr | erscheint | you (pl.) appear |
| sie/Sie | erscheinen | they appear |
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 | erschien | I appeared |
| du | erschienst | you appeared |
| er/sie/es | erschien | he/she/it appeared |
| wir | erschienen | we appeared |
| ihr | erschient | you (pl.) appeared |
| sie/Sie | erschienen | they appeared |
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 | bin erschienen | I have appeared |
| du | bist erschienen | you have appeared |
| er/sie/es | ist erschienen | he/she/it has appeared |
| wir | sind erschienen | we have appeared |
| ihr | seid erschienen | you (pl.) have appeared |
| sie/Sie | sind erschienen | they have appeared |
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 | war erschienen | I had appeared |
| du | warst erschienen | you had appeared |
| er/sie/es | war erschienen | he/she/it had appeared |
| wir | waren erschienen | we had appeared |
| ihr | wart erschienen | you (pl.) had appeared |
| sie/Sie | waren erschienen | they had appeared |
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 erscheinen | I will appear |
| du | wirst erscheinen | you will appear |
| er/sie/es | wird erscheinen | he/she/it will appear |
| wir | werden erscheinen | we will appear |
| ihr | werdet erscheinen | you (pl.) will appear |
| sie/Sie | werden erscheinen | they will appear |
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 erschienen sein | I will have appeared |
| du | wirst erschienen sein | you will have appeared |
| er/sie/es | wird erschienen sein | he/she/it will have appeared |
| wir | werden erschienen sein | we will have appeared |
| ihr | werdet erschienen sein | you (pl.) will have appeared |
| sie/Sie | werden erschienen sein | they will have appeared |
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 | erschiene |
| du | erschienest |
| er/sie/es | erschiene |
| wir | erschienen |
| ihr | erschienet |
| sie/Sie | erschienen |
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 | erscheine |
| ihr | erscheint |