forttreiben — German conjugation
to drive away
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 | treibe fort | I drive away |
| du | treibst fort | you drive away |
| er/sie/es | treibt fort | he/she/it drives away |
| wir | treiben fort | we drive away |
| ihr | treibt fort | you (pl.) drive away |
| sie/Sie | treiben fort | they drive away |
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 | trieb fort | I drove away |
| du | triebst fort | you drove away |
| er/sie/es | trieb fort | he/she/it drove away |
| wir | trieben fort | we drove away |
| ihr | triebt fort | you (pl.) drove away |
| sie/Sie | trieben fort | they drove away |
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 | habe fortgetrieben | I have driven away |
| du | hast fortgetrieben | you have driven away |
| er/sie/es | hat fortgetrieben | he/she/it has driven away |
| wir | haben fortgetrieben | we have driven away |
| ihr | habt fortgetrieben | you (pl.) have driven away |
| sie/Sie | haben fortgetrieben | they have driven away |
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 | hatte fortgetrieben | I had driven away |
| du | hattest fortgetrieben | you had driven away |
| er/sie/es | hatte fortgetrieben | he/she/it had driven away |
| wir | hatten fortgetrieben | we had driven away |
| ihr | hattet fortgetrieben | you (pl.) had driven away |
| sie/Sie | hatten fortgetrieben | they had driven away |
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 forttreiben | I will drive away |
| du | wirst forttreiben | you will drive away |
| er/sie/es | wird forttreiben | he/she/it will drive away |
| wir | werden forttreiben | we will drive away |
| ihr | werdet forttreiben | you (pl.) will drive away |
| sie/Sie | werden forttreiben | they will drive away |
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 fortgetrieben haben | I will have driven away |
| du | wirst fortgetrieben haben | you will have driven away |
| er/sie/es | wird fortgetrieben haben | he/she/it will have driven away |
| wir | werden fortgetrieben haben | we will have driven away |
| ihr | werdet fortgetrieben haben | you (pl.) will have driven away |
| sie/Sie | werden fortgetrieben haben | they will have driven away |
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 | triebe fort |
| du | triebest fort |
| er/sie/es | triebe fort |
| wir | trieben fort |
| ihr | triebet fort |
| sie/Sie | trieben fort |
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 | treibe fort |
| ihr | treibt fort |