erwarten — German conjugation
to expect, to consider likely
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 | erwarte | I expect |
| du | erwartest | you expect |
| er/sie/es | erwartet | he/she/it expects |
| wir | erwarten | we expect |
| ihr | erwartet | you (pl.) expect |
| sie/Sie | erwarten | they expect |
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 | erwartete | I expected |
| du | erwartetest | you expected |
| er/sie/es | erwartete | he/she/it expected |
| wir | erwarteten | we expected |
| ihr | erwartetet | you (pl.) expected |
| sie/Sie | erwarteten | they expected |
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 erwartet | I have expected |
| du | hast erwartet | you have expected |
| er/sie/es | hat erwartet | he/she/it has expected |
| wir | haben erwartet | we have expected |
| ihr | habt erwartet | you (pl.) have expected |
| sie/Sie | haben erwartet | they have expected |
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 erwartet | I had expected |
| du | hattest erwartet | you had expected |
| er/sie/es | hatte erwartet | he/she/it had expected |
| wir | hatten erwartet | we had expected |
| ihr | hattet erwartet | you (pl.) had expected |
| sie/Sie | hatten erwartet | they had expected |
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 erwarten | I will expect |
| du | wirst erwarten | you will expect |
| er/sie/es | wird erwarten | he/she/it will expect |
| wir | werden erwarten | we will expect |
| ihr | werdet erwarten | you (pl.) will expect |
| sie/Sie | werden erwarten | they will expect |
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 erwartet haben | I will have expected |
| du | wirst erwartet haben | you will have expected |
| er/sie/es | wird erwartet haben | he/she/it will have expected |
| wir | werden erwartet haben | we will have expected |
| ihr | werdet erwartet haben | you (pl.) will have expected |
| sie/Sie | werden erwartet haben | they will have expected |
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 | erwartete |
| du | erwartetest |
| er/sie/es | erwartete |
| wir | erwarteten |
| ihr | erwartetet |
| sie/Sie | erwarteten |
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 | erwarte |
| ihr | erwartet |