heimkehren — German conjugation
to return home
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 | kehre heim | I return home |
| du | kehrst heim | you return home |
| er/sie/es | kehrt heim | he/she/it returns home |
| wir | kehren heim | we return home |
| ihr | kehrt heim | you (pl.) return home |
| sie/Sie | kehren heim | they return home |
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 | kehrte heim | I returned home |
| du | kehrtest heim | you returned home |
| er/sie/es | kehrte heim | he/she/it returned home |
| wir | kehrten heim | we returned home |
| ihr | kehrtet heim | you (pl.) returned home |
| sie/Sie | kehrten heim | they returned home |
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 | bin heimgekehrt | I have returned home |
| du | bist heimgekehrt | you have returned home |
| er/sie/es | ist heimgekehrt | he/she/it has returned home |
| wir | sind heimgekehrt | we have returned home |
| ihr | seid heimgekehrt | you (pl.) have returned home |
| sie/Sie | sind heimgekehrt | they have returned home |
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 | war heimgekehrt | I had returned home |
| du | warst heimgekehrt | you had returned home |
| er/sie/es | war heimgekehrt | he/she/it had returned home |
| wir | waren heimgekehrt | we had returned home |
| ihr | wart heimgekehrt | you (pl.) had returned home |
| sie/Sie | waren heimgekehrt | they had returned home |
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 heimkehren | I will return home |
| du | wirst heimkehren | you will return home |
| er/sie/es | wird heimkehren | he/she/it will return home |
| wir | werden heimkehren | we will return home |
| ihr | werdet heimkehren | you (pl.) will return home |
| sie/Sie | werden heimkehren | they will return home |
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 heimgekehrt sein | I will have returned home |
| du | wirst heimgekehrt sein | you will have returned home |
| er/sie/es | wird heimgekehrt sein | he/she/it will have returned home |
| wir | werden heimgekehrt sein | we will have returned home |
| ihr | werdet heimgekehrt sein | you (pl.) will have returned home |
| sie/Sie | werden heimgekehrt sein | they will have returned home |
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 | kehrte heim |
| du | kehrtest heim |
| er/sie/es | kehrte heim |
| wir | kehrten heim |
| ihr | kehrtet heim |
| sie/Sie | kehrten heim |
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 | kehre heim |
| ihr | kehrt heim |