heben — German conjugation
to lift
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hebe | I lift |
| du | hebst | you lift |
| er/sie/es | hebt | he/she/it lifts |
| wir | heben | we lift |
| ihr | hebt | you (pl.) lift |
| sie/Sie | heben | they lift |
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hob | I lifted |
| du | hobst | you lifted |
| er/sie/es | hob | he/she/it lifted |
| wir | hoben | we lifted |
| ihr | hobt | you (pl.) lifted |
| sie/Sie | hoben | they lifted |
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | habe gehoben | I have lifted |
| du | hast gehoben | you have lifted |
| er/sie/es | hat gehoben | he/she/it has lifted |
| wir | haben gehoben | we have lifted |
| ihr | habt gehoben | you (pl.) have lifted |
| sie/Sie | haben gehoben | they have lifted |
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte gehoben | I had lifted |
| du | hattest gehoben | you had lifted |
| er/sie/es | hatte gehoben | he/she/it had lifted |
| wir | hatten gehoben | we had lifted |
| ihr | hattet gehoben | you (pl.) had lifted |
| sie/Sie | hatten gehoben | they had lifted |
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde heben | I will lift |
| du | wirst heben | you will lift |
| er/sie/es | wird heben | he/she/it will lift |
| wir | werden heben | we will lift |
| ihr | werdet heben | you (pl.) will lift |
| sie/Sie | werden heben | they will lift |
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde gehoben haben | I will have lifted |
| du | wirst gehoben haben | you will have lifted |
| er/sie/es | wird gehoben haben | he/she/it will have lifted |
| wir | werden gehoben haben | we will have lifted |
| ihr | werdet gehoben haben | you (pl.) will have lifted |
| sie/Sie | werden gehoben haben | they will have lifted |
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?
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| ich | höbe |
| du | höbest |
| er/sie/es | höbe |
| wir | höben |
| ihr | höbet |
| sie/Sie | höben |
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.
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| du | hebe |
| ihr | hebt |