gehorchen — German conjugation
to obey
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 | gehorche | I obey |
| du | gehorchst | you obey |
| er/sie/es | gehorcht | he/she/it obeys |
| wir | gehorchen | we obey |
| ihr | gehorcht | you (pl.) obey |
| sie/Sie | gehorchen | they obey |
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 | gehorchte | I obeyed |
| du | gehorchtest | you obeyed |
| er/sie/es | gehorchte | he/she/it obeyed |
| wir | gehorchten | we obeyed |
| ihr | gehorchtet | you (pl.) obeyed |
| sie/Sie | gehorchten | they obeyed |
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 gehorcht | I have obeyed |
| du | hast gehorcht | you have obeyed |
| er/sie/es | hat gehorcht | he/she/it has obeyed |
| wir | haben gehorcht | we have obeyed |
| ihr | habt gehorcht | you (pl.) have obeyed |
| sie/Sie | haben gehorcht | they have obeyed |
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 gehorcht | I had obeyed |
| du | hattest gehorcht | you had obeyed |
| er/sie/es | hatte gehorcht | he/she/it had obeyed |
| wir | hatten gehorcht | we had obeyed |
| ihr | hattet gehorcht | you (pl.) had obeyed |
| sie/Sie | hatten gehorcht | they had obeyed |
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 gehorchen | I will obey |
| du | wirst gehorchen | you will obey |
| er/sie/es | wird gehorchen | he/she/it will obey |
| wir | werden gehorchen | we will obey |
| ihr | werdet gehorchen | you (pl.) will obey |
| sie/Sie | werden gehorchen | they will obey |
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 gehorcht haben | I will have obeyed |
| du | wirst gehorcht haben | you will have obeyed |
| er/sie/es | wird gehorcht haben | he/she/it will have obeyed |
| wir | werden gehorcht haben | we will have obeyed |
| ihr | werdet gehorcht haben | you (pl.) will have obeyed |
| sie/Sie | werden gehorcht haben | they will have obeyed |
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 | gehorchte |
| du | gehorchtest |
| er/sie/es | gehorchte |
| wir | gehorchten |
| ihr | gehorchtet |
| sie/Sie | gehorchten |
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 | gehorche |
| ihr | gehorcht |