gedenken — German conjugation
to commemorate
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 | gedenke | I commemorate |
| du | gedenkst | you commemorate |
| er/sie/es | gedenkt | he/she/it commemorates |
| wir | gedenken | we commemorate |
| ihr | gedenkt | you (pl.) commemorate |
| sie/Sie | gedenken | they commemorate |
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 | gedachte | I commemorated |
| du | gedachtest | you commemorated |
| er/sie/es | gedachte | he/she/it commemorated |
| wir | gedachten | we commemorated |
| ihr | gedachtet | you (pl.) commemorated |
| sie/Sie | gedachten | they commemorated |
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 gedacht | I have commemorated |
| du | hast gedacht | you have commemorated |
| er/sie/es | hat gedacht | he/she/it has commemorated |
| wir | haben gedacht | we have commemorated |
| ihr | habt gedacht | you (pl.) have commemorated |
| sie/Sie | haben gedacht | they have commemorated |
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 gedacht | I had commemorated |
| du | hattest gedacht | you had commemorated |
| er/sie/es | hatte gedacht | he/she/it had commemorated |
| wir | hatten gedacht | we had commemorated |
| ihr | hattet gedacht | you (pl.) had commemorated |
| sie/Sie | hatten gedacht | they had commemorated |
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 gedenken | I will commemorate |
| du | wirst gedenken | you will commemorate |
| er/sie/es | wird gedenken | he/she/it will commemorate |
| wir | werden gedenken | we will commemorate |
| ihr | werdet gedenken | you (pl.) will commemorate |
| sie/Sie | werden gedenken | they will commemorate |
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 gedacht haben | I will have commemorated |
| du | wirst gedacht haben | you will have commemorated |
| er/sie/es | wird gedacht haben | he/she/it will have commemorated |
| wir | werden gedacht haben | we will have commemorated |
| ihr | werdet gedacht haben | you (pl.) will have commemorated |
| sie/Sie | werden gedacht haben | they will have commemorated |
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 | gedächte |
| du | gedächtest |
| er/sie/es | gedächte |
| wir | gedächten |
| ihr | gedächtet |
| sie/Sie | gedächten |
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 | gedenke |
| ihr | gedenkt |