gratulieren — German conjugation
to congratulate
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 | gratuliere | I congratulate |
| du | gratulierst | you congratulate |
| er/sie/es | gratuliert | he/she/it congratulates |
| wir | gratulieren | we congratulate |
| ihr | gratuliert | you (pl.) congratulate |
| sie/Sie | gratulieren | they congratulate |
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 | gratulierte | I congratulated |
| du | gratuliertest | you congratulated |
| er/sie/es | gratulierte | he/she/it congratulated |
| wir | gratulierten | we congratulated |
| ihr | gratuliertet | you (pl.) congratulated |
| sie/Sie | gratulierten | they congratulated |
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 gratuliert | I have congratulated |
| du | hast gratuliert | you have congratulated |
| er/sie/es | hat gratuliert | he/she/it has congratulated |
| wir | haben gratuliert | we have congratulated |
| ihr | habt gratuliert | you (pl.) have congratulated |
| sie/Sie | haben gratuliert | they have congratulated |
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 gratuliert | I had congratulated |
| du | hattest gratuliert | you had congratulated |
| er/sie/es | hatte gratuliert | he/she/it had congratulated |
| wir | hatten gratuliert | we had congratulated |
| ihr | hattet gratuliert | you (pl.) had congratulated |
| sie/Sie | hatten gratuliert | they had congratulated |
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 gratulieren | I will congratulate |
| du | wirst gratulieren | you will congratulate |
| er/sie/es | wird gratulieren | he/she/it will congratulate |
| wir | werden gratulieren | we will congratulate |
| ihr | werdet gratulieren | you (pl.) will congratulate |
| sie/Sie | werden gratulieren | they will congratulate |
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 gratuliert haben | I will have congratulated |
| du | wirst gratuliert haben | you will have congratulated |
| er/sie/es | wird gratuliert haben | he/she/it will have congratulated |
| wir | werden gratuliert haben | we will have congratulated |
| ihr | werdet gratuliert haben | you (pl.) will have congratulated |
| sie/Sie | werden gratuliert haben | they will have congratulated |
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 | gratulierte |
| du | gratuliertest |
| er/sie/es | gratulierte |
| wir | gratulierten |
| ihr | gratuliertet |
| sie/Sie | gratulierten |
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 | gratuliere |
| ihr | gratuliert |