gleiten — German conjugation

to glide; to float; to move effortlessly

Frequency#169Irregular

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichgleiteI glide
dugleitestyou glide
er/sie/esgleitethe/she/it glides
wirgleitenwe glide
ihrgleitetyou (pl.) glide
sie/Siegleitenthey glide

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichglittI glided
duglittestyou glided
er/sie/esglitthe/she/it glided
wirglittenwe glided
ihrglittetyou (pl.) glided
sie/Sieglittenthey glided

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichbin geglittenI have glided
dubist geglittenyou have glided
er/sie/esist geglittenhe/she/it has glided
wirsind geglittenwe have glided
ihrseid geglittenyou (pl.) have glided
sie/Siesind geglittenthey have glided

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwar geglittenI had glided
duwarst geglittenyou had glided
er/sie/eswar geglittenhe/she/it had glided
wirwaren geglittenwe had glided
ihrwart geglittenyou (pl.) had glided
sie/Siewaren geglittenthey had glided

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde gleitenI will glide
duwirst gleitenyou will glide
er/sie/eswird gleitenhe/she/it will glide
wirwerden gleitenwe will glide
ihrwerdet gleitenyou (pl.) will glide
sie/Siewerden gleitenthey will glide

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde geglitten seinI will have glided
duwirst geglitten seinyou will have glided
er/sie/eswird geglitten seinhe/she/it will have glided
wirwerden geglitten seinwe will have glided
ihrwerdet geglitten seinyou (pl.) will have glided
sie/Siewerden geglitten seinthey will have glided

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?

PronounGerman
ichglitte
duglittest
er/sie/esglitte
wirglitten
ihrglittet
sie/Sieglitten

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.

PronounGerman
dugleite
ihrgleitet