fortleben — German conjugation
to survive
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 | lebe fort | I survive |
| du | lebst fort | you survive |
| er/sie/es | lebt fort | he/she/it survives |
| wir | leben fort | we survive |
| ihr | lebt fort | you (pl.) survive |
| sie/Sie | leben fort | they survive |
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 | lebte fort | I survived |
| du | lebtest fort | you survived |
| er/sie/es | lebte fort | he/she/it survived |
| wir | lebten fort | we survived |
| ihr | lebtet fort | you (pl.) survived |
| sie/Sie | lebten fort | they survived |
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 fortgelebt | I have survived |
| du | hast fortgelebt | you have survived |
| er/sie/es | hat fortgelebt | he/she/it has survived |
| wir | haben fortgelebt | we have survived |
| ihr | habt fortgelebt | you (pl.) have survived |
| sie/Sie | haben fortgelebt | they have survived |
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 fortgelebt | I had survived |
| du | hattest fortgelebt | you had survived |
| er/sie/es | hatte fortgelebt | he/she/it had survived |
| wir | hatten fortgelebt | we had survived |
| ihr | hattet fortgelebt | you (pl.) had survived |
| sie/Sie | hatten fortgelebt | they had survived |
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 fortleben | I will survive |
| du | wirst fortleben | you will survive |
| er/sie/es | wird fortleben | he/she/it will survive |
| wir | werden fortleben | we will survive |
| ihr | werdet fortleben | you (pl.) will survive |
| sie/Sie | werden fortleben | they will survive |
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 fortgelebt haben | I will have survived |
| du | wirst fortgelebt haben | you will have survived |
| er/sie/es | wird fortgelebt haben | he/she/it will have survived |
| wir | werden fortgelebt haben | we will have survived |
| ihr | werdet fortgelebt haben | you (pl.) will have survived |
| sie/Sie | werden fortgelebt haben | they will have survived |
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 | lebte fort |
| du | lebtest fort |
| er/sie/es | lebte fort |
| wir | lebten fort |
| ihr | lebtet fort |
| sie/Sie | lebten fort |
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 | lebe fort |
| ihr | lebt fort |