gestatten — German conjugation
to allow
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 | gestatte | I allow |
| du | gestattest | you allow |
| er/sie/es | gestattet | he/she/it allows |
| wir | gestatten | we allow |
| ihr | gestattet | you (pl.) allow |
| sie/Sie | gestatten | they allow |
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 | gestattete | I allowed |
| du | gestattetest | you allowed |
| er/sie/es | gestattete | he/she/it allowed |
| wir | gestatteten | we allowed |
| ihr | gestattetet | you (pl.) allowed |
| sie/Sie | gestatteten | they allowed |
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 gestattet | I have allowed |
| du | hast gestattet | you have allowed |
| er/sie/es | hat gestattet | he/she/it has allowed |
| wir | haben gestattet | we have allowed |
| ihr | habt gestattet | you (pl.) have allowed |
| sie/Sie | haben gestattet | they have allowed |
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 gestattet | I had allowed |
| du | hattest gestattet | you had allowed |
| er/sie/es | hatte gestattet | he/she/it had allowed |
| wir | hatten gestattet | we had allowed |
| ihr | hattet gestattet | you (pl.) had allowed |
| sie/Sie | hatten gestattet | they had allowed |
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 gestatten | I will allow |
| du | wirst gestatten | you will allow |
| er/sie/es | wird gestatten | he/she/it will allow |
| wir | werden gestatten | we will allow |
| ihr | werdet gestatten | you (pl.) will allow |
| sie/Sie | werden gestatten | they will allow |
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 gestattet haben | I will have allowed |
| du | wirst gestattet haben | you will have allowed |
| er/sie/es | wird gestattet haben | he/she/it will have allowed |
| wir | werden gestattet haben | we will have allowed |
| ihr | werdet gestattet haben | you (pl.) will have allowed |
| sie/Sie | werden gestattet haben | they will have allowed |
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 | gestattete |
| du | gestattetest |
| er/sie/es | gestattete |
| wir | gestatteten |
| ihr | gestattetet |
| sie/Sie | gestatteten |
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 | gestatte |
| ihr | gestattet |