feststellen — German conjugation
to ascertain
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 | stelle fest | I ascertain |
| du | stellst fest | you ascertain |
| er/sie/es | stellt fest | he/she/it ascertains |
| wir | stellen fest | we ascertain |
| ihr | stellt fest | you (pl.) ascertain |
| sie/Sie | stellen fest | they ascertain |
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 | stellte fest | I ascertained |
| du | stelltest fest | you ascertained |
| er/sie/es | stellte fest | he/she/it ascertained |
| wir | stellten fest | we ascertained |
| ihr | stelltet fest | you (pl.) ascertained |
| sie/Sie | stellten fest | they ascertained |
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 festgestellt | I have ascertained |
| du | hast festgestellt | you have ascertained |
| er/sie/es | hat festgestellt | he/she/it has ascertained |
| wir | haben festgestellt | we have ascertained |
| ihr | habt festgestellt | you (pl.) have ascertained |
| sie/Sie | haben festgestellt | they have ascertained |
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 festgestellt | I had ascertained |
| du | hattest festgestellt | you had ascertained |
| er/sie/es | hatte festgestellt | he/she/it had ascertained |
| wir | hatten festgestellt | we had ascertained |
| ihr | hattet festgestellt | you (pl.) had ascertained |
| sie/Sie | hatten festgestellt | they had ascertained |
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 feststellen | I will ascertain |
| du | wirst feststellen | you will ascertain |
| er/sie/es | wird feststellen | he/she/it will ascertain |
| wir | werden feststellen | we will ascertain |
| ihr | werdet feststellen | you (pl.) will ascertain |
| sie/Sie | werden feststellen | they will ascertain |
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 festgestellt haben | I will have ascertained |
| du | wirst festgestellt haben | you will have ascertained |
| er/sie/es | wird festgestellt haben | he/she/it will have ascertained |
| wir | werden festgestellt haben | we will have ascertained |
| ihr | werdet festgestellt haben | you (pl.) will have ascertained |
| sie/Sie | werden festgestellt haben | they will have ascertained |
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 | stellte fest |
| du | stelltest fest |
| er/sie/es | stellte fest |
| wir | stellten fest |
| ihr | stelltet fest |
| sie/Sie | stellten fest |
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 | stelle fest |
| ihr | stellt fest |