foltern — German conjugation
to torture, torment
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 | foltere | I torture |
| du | folterst | you torture |
| er/sie/es | foltert | he/she/it tortures |
| wir | foltern | we torture |
| ihr | foltert | you (pl.) torture |
| sie/Sie | foltern | they torture |
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 | folterte | I tortured |
| du | foltertest | you tortured |
| er/sie/es | folterte | he/she/it tortured |
| wir | folterten | we tortured |
| ihr | foltertet | you (pl.) tortured |
| sie/Sie | folterten | they tortured |
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 gefoltert | I have tortured |
| du | hast gefoltert | you have tortured |
| er/sie/es | hat gefoltert | he/she/it has tortured |
| wir | haben gefoltert | we have tortured |
| ihr | habt gefoltert | you (pl.) have tortured |
| sie/Sie | haben gefoltert | they have tortured |
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 gefoltert | I had tortured |
| du | hattest gefoltert | you had tortured |
| er/sie/es | hatte gefoltert | he/she/it had tortured |
| wir | hatten gefoltert | we had tortured |
| ihr | hattet gefoltert | you (pl.) had tortured |
| sie/Sie | hatten gefoltert | they had tortured |
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 foltern | I will torture |
| du | wirst foltern | you will torture |
| er/sie/es | wird foltern | he/she/it will torture |
| wir | werden foltern | we will torture |
| ihr | werdet foltern | you (pl.) will torture |
| sie/Sie | werden foltern | they will torture |
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 gefoltert haben | I will have tortured |
| du | wirst gefoltert haben | you will have tortured |
| er/sie/es | wird gefoltert haben | he/she/it will have tortured |
| wir | werden gefoltert haben | we will have tortured |
| ihr | werdet gefoltert haben | you (pl.) will have tortured |
| sie/Sie | werden gefoltert haben | they will have tortured |
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 | folterte |
| du | foltertest |
| er/sie/es | folterte |
| wir | folterten |
| ihr | foltertet |
| sie/Sie | folterten |
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 | foltere |
| ihr | foltert |