heißen — German conjugation
to be called
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 | heiße | I am called |
| du | heißt | you are called |
| er/sie/es | heißt | he/she/it is called |
| wir | heißen | we are called |
| ihr | heißt | you (pl.) are called |
| sie/Sie | heißen | they are called |
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 | hieß | I was called |
| du | hießest | you were called |
| er/sie/es | hieß | he/she/it was called |
| wir | hießen | we were called |
| ihr | hießt | you (pl.) were called |
| sie/Sie | hießen | they were called |
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 geheißen | I have been called |
| du | hast geheißen | you have been called |
| er/sie/es | hat geheißen | he/she/it has been called |
| wir | haben geheißen | we have been called |
| ihr | habt geheißen | you (pl.) have been called |
| sie/Sie | haben geheißen | they have been called |
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 geheißen | I had been called |
| du | hattest geheißen | you had been called |
| er/sie/es | hatte geheißen | he/she/it had been called |
| wir | hatten geheißen | we had been called |
| ihr | hattet geheißen | you (pl.) had been called |
| sie/Sie | hatten geheißen | they had been called |
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 heißen | I will be called |
| du | wirst heißen | you will be called |
| er/sie/es | wird heißen | he/she/it will be called |
| wir | werden heißen | we will be called |
| ihr | werdet heißen | you (pl.) will be called |
| sie/Sie | werden heißen | they will be called |
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 geheißen haben | I will have been called |
| du | wirst geheißen haben | you will have been called |
| er/sie/es | wird geheißen haben | he/she/it will have been called |
| wir | werden geheißen haben | we will have been called |
| ihr | werdet geheißen haben | you (pl.) will have been called |
| sie/Sie | werden geheißen haben | they will have been called |
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 | hieße |
| du | hießest |
| er/sie/es | hieße |
| wir | hießen |
| ihr | hießet |
| sie/Sie | hießen |
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 | heiße |
| ihr | heißt |