grauen — German conjugation
to be afraid
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 | graue | I am afraid |
| du | graust | you are afraid |
| er/sie/es | graut | he/she/it is afraid |
| wir | grauen | we are afraid |
| ihr | graut | you (pl.) are afraid |
| sie/Sie | grauen | they are afraid |
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 | graute | I was afraid |
| du | grautest | you were afraid |
| er/sie/es | graute | he/she/it was afraid |
| wir | grauten | we were afraid |
| ihr | grautet | you (pl.) were afraid |
| sie/Sie | grauten | they were afraid |
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 gegraut | I have been afraid |
| du | hast gegraut | you have been afraid |
| er/sie/es | hat gegraut | he/she/it has been afraid |
| wir | haben gegraut | we have been afraid |
| ihr | habt gegraut | you (pl.) have been afraid |
| sie/Sie | haben gegraut | they have been afraid |
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 gegraut | I had been afraid |
| du | hattest gegraut | you had been afraid |
| er/sie/es | hatte gegraut | he/she/it had been afraid |
| wir | hatten gegraut | we had been afraid |
| ihr | hattet gegraut | you (pl.) had been afraid |
| sie/Sie | hatten gegraut | they had been afraid |
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 grauen | I will be afraid |
| du | wirst grauen | you will be afraid |
| er/sie/es | wird grauen | he/she/it will be afraid |
| wir | werden grauen | we will be afraid |
| ihr | werdet grauen | you (pl.) will be afraid |
| sie/Sie | werden grauen | they will be afraid |
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 gegraut haben | I will have been afraid |
| du | wirst gegraut haben | you will have been afraid |
| er/sie/es | wird gegraut haben | he/she/it will have been afraid |
| wir | werden gegraut haben | we will have been afraid |
| ihr | werdet gegraut haben | you (pl.) will have been afraid |
| sie/Sie | werden gegraut haben | they will have been afraid |
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 | graute |
| du | grautest |
| er/sie/es | graute |
| wir | grauten |
| ihr | grautet |
| sie/Sie | grauten |
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 | graue |
| ihr | graut |