fressen — German conjugation
to eat (of animals)
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 | fresse | I eat |
| du | frisst | you eat |
| er/sie/es | frisst | he/she/it eats |
| wir | fressen | we eat |
| ihr | fresst | you (pl.) eat |
| sie/Sie | fressen | they eat |
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 | fraß | I ate |
| du | fraßest | you ate |
| er/sie/es | fraß | he/she/it ate |
| wir | fraßen | we ate |
| ihr | fraßt | you (pl.) ate |
| sie/Sie | fraßen | they ate |
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 gefressen | I have eaten |
| du | hast gefressen | you have eaten |
| er/sie/es | hat gefressen | he/she/it has eaten |
| wir | haben gefressen | we have eaten |
| ihr | habt gefressen | you (pl.) have eaten |
| sie/Sie | haben gefressen | they have eaten |
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 gefressen | I had eaten |
| du | hattest gefressen | you had eaten |
| er/sie/es | hatte gefressen | he/she/it had eaten |
| wir | hatten gefressen | we had eaten |
| ihr | hattet gefressen | you (pl.) had eaten |
| sie/Sie | hatten gefressen | they had eaten |
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 fressen | I will eat |
| du | wirst fressen | you will eat |
| er/sie/es | wird fressen | he/she/it will eat |
| wir | werden fressen | we will eat |
| ihr | werdet fressen | you (pl.) will eat |
| sie/Sie | werden fressen | they will eat |
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 gefressen haben | I will have eaten |
| du | wirst gefressen haben | you will have eaten |
| er/sie/es | wird gefressen haben | he/she/it will have eaten |
| wir | werden gefressen haben | we will have eaten |
| ihr | werdet gefressen haben | you (pl.) will have eaten |
| sie/Sie | werden gefressen haben | they will have eaten |
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 | fräße |
| du | fräßest |
| er/sie/es | fräße |
| wir | fräßen |
| ihr | fräßet |
| sie/Sie | fräßen |
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 | friss |
| ihr | fresst |