gutmachen — German conjugation
to make up for
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 | mache gut | I make up for |
| du | machst gut | you make up for |
| er/sie/es | macht gut | he/she/it makes up for |
| wir | machen gut | we make up for |
| ihr | macht gut | you (pl.) make up for |
| sie/Sie | machen gut | they make up for |
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 | machte gut | I made up for |
| du | machtest gut | you made up for |
| er/sie/es | machte gut | he/she/it made up for |
| wir | machten gut | we made up for |
| ihr | machtet gut | you (pl.) made up for |
| sie/Sie | machten gut | they made up for |
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 gutgemacht | I have made up for |
| du | hast gutgemacht | you have made up for |
| er/sie/es | hat gutgemacht | he/she/it has made up for |
| wir | haben gutgemacht | we have made up for |
| ihr | habt gutgemacht | you (pl.) have made up for |
| sie/Sie | haben gutgemacht | they have made up for |
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 gutgemacht | I had made up for |
| du | hattest gutgemacht | you had made up for |
| er/sie/es | hatte gutgemacht | he/she/it had made up for |
| wir | hatten gutgemacht | we had made up for |
| ihr | hattet gutgemacht | you (pl.) had made up for |
| sie/Sie | hatten gutgemacht | they had made up for |
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 gutmachen | I will make up for |
| du | wirst gutmachen | you will make up for |
| er/sie/es | wird gutmachen | he/she/it will make up for |
| wir | werden gutmachen | we will make up for |
| ihr | werdet gutmachen | you (pl.) will make up for |
| sie/Sie | werden gutmachen | they will make up for |
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 gutgemacht haben | I will have made up for |
| du | wirst gutgemacht haben | you will have made up for |
| er/sie/es | wird gutgemacht haben | he/she/it will have made up for |
| wir | werden gutgemacht haben | we will have made up for |
| ihr | werdet gutgemacht haben | you (pl.) will have made up for |
| sie/Sie | werden gutgemacht haben | they will have made up for |
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 | machte gut |
| du | machtest gut |
| er/sie/es | machte gut |
| wir | machten gut |
| ihr | machtet gut |
| sie/Sie | machten gut |
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 | mache gut |
| ihr | macht gut |