geschehen — German conjugation
to happen
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 | geschehe | I happen |
| du | geschiehst | you happen |
| er/sie/es | geschieht | he/she/it happens |
| wir | geschehen | we happen |
| ihr | gescheht | you (pl.) happen |
| sie/Sie | geschehen | they happen |
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 | geschah | I happened |
| du | geschahst | you happened |
| er/sie/es | geschah | he/she/it happened |
| wir | geschahen | we happened |
| ihr | geschaht | you (pl.) happened |
| sie/Sie | geschahen | they happened |
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 | bin geschehen | I have happened |
| du | bist geschehen | you have happened |
| er/sie/es | ist geschehen | he/she/it has happened |
| wir | sind geschehen | we have happened |
| ihr | seid geschehen | you (pl.) have happened |
| sie/Sie | sind geschehen | they have happened |
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 | war geschehen | I had happened |
| du | warst geschehen | you had happened |
| er/sie/es | war geschehen | he/she/it had happened |
| wir | waren geschehen | we had happened |
| ihr | wart geschehen | you (pl.) had happened |
| sie/Sie | waren geschehen | they had happened |
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 geschehen | I will happen |
| du | wirst geschehen | you will happen |
| er/sie/es | wird geschehen | he/she/it will happen |
| wir | werden geschehen | we will happen |
| ihr | werdet geschehen | you (pl.) will happen |
| sie/Sie | werden geschehen | they will happen |
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 geschehen sein | I will have happened |
| du | wirst geschehen sein | you will have happened |
| er/sie/es | wird geschehen sein | he/she/it will have happened |
| wir | werden geschehen sein | we will have happened |
| ihr | werdet geschehen sein | you (pl.) will have happened |
| sie/Sie | werden geschehen sein | they will have happened |
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 | geschähe |
| du | geschähest |
| er/sie/es | geschähe |
| wir | geschähen |
| ihr | geschähet |
| sie/Sie | geschähen |
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 | geschieh |
| ihr | gescheht |