handeln — German conjugation
to act
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 | handele | I act |
| du | handelst | you act |
| er/sie/es | handelt | he/she/it acts |
| wir | handeln | we act |
| ihr | handelt | you (pl.) act |
| sie/Sie | handeln | they act |
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 | handelte | I acted |
| du | handeltest | you acted |
| er/sie/es | handelte | he/she/it acted |
| wir | handelten | we acted |
| ihr | handeltet | you (pl.) acted |
| sie/Sie | handelten | they acted |
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 gehandelt | I have acted |
| du | hast gehandelt | you have acted |
| er/sie/es | hat gehandelt | he/she/it has acted |
| wir | haben gehandelt | we have acted |
| ihr | habt gehandelt | you (pl.) have acted |
| sie/Sie | haben gehandelt | they have acted |
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 gehandelt | I had acted |
| du | hattest gehandelt | you had acted |
| er/sie/es | hatte gehandelt | he/she/it had acted |
| wir | hatten gehandelt | we had acted |
| ihr | hattet gehandelt | you (pl.) had acted |
| sie/Sie | hatten gehandelt | they had acted |
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 handeln | I will act |
| du | wirst handeln | you will act |
| er/sie/es | wird handeln | he/she/it will act |
| wir | werden handeln | we will act |
| ihr | werdet handeln | you (pl.) will act |
| sie/Sie | werden handeln | they will act |
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 gehandelt haben | I will have acted |
| du | wirst gehandelt haben | you will have acted |
| er/sie/es | wird gehandelt haben | he/she/it will have acted |
| wir | werden gehandelt haben | we will have acted |
| ihr | werdet gehandelt haben | you (pl.) will have acted |
| sie/Sie | werden gehandelt haben | they will have acted |
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 | handelte |
| du | handeltest |
| er/sie/es | handelte |
| wir | handelten |
| ihr | handeltet |
| sie/Sie | handelten |
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 | handele |
| ihr | handelt |