geben — German conjugation
to give
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 | gebe | I give |
| du | gibst | you give |
| er/sie/es | gibt | he/she/it gives |
| wir | geben | we give |
| ihr | gebt | you (pl.) give |
| sie/Sie | geben | they give |
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 | gab | I gave |
| du | gabst | you gave |
| er/sie/es | gab | he/she/it gave |
| wir | gaben | we gave |
| ihr | gabt | you (pl.) gave |
| sie/Sie | gaben | they gave |
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 gegeben | I have given |
| du | hast gegeben | you have given |
| er/sie/es | hat gegeben | he/she/it has given |
| wir | haben gegeben | we have given |
| ihr | habt gegeben | you (pl.) have given |
| sie/Sie | haben gegeben | they have given |
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 gegeben | I had given |
| du | hattest gegeben | you had given |
| er/sie/es | hatte gegeben | he/she/it had given |
| wir | hatten gegeben | we had given |
| ihr | hattet gegeben | you (pl.) had given |
| sie/Sie | hatten gegeben | they had given |
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 geben | I will give |
| du | wirst geben | you will give |
| er/sie/es | wird geben | he/she/it will give |
| wir | werden geben | we will give |
| ihr | werdet geben | you (pl.) will give |
| sie/Sie | werden geben | they will give |
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 gegeben haben | I will have given |
| du | wirst gegeben haben | you will have given |
| er/sie/es | wird gegeben haben | he/she/it will have given |
| wir | werden gegeben haben | we will have given |
| ihr | werdet gegeben haben | you (pl.) will have given |
| sie/Sie | werden gegeben haben | they will have given |
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 | gäbe |
| du | gäbest |
| er/sie/es | gäbe |
| wir | gäben |
| ihr | gäbet |
| sie/Sie | gäben |
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 | gib |
| ihr | gebt |