herkommen — German conjugation
to come from
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 | komme her | I come from |
| du | kommst her | you come from |
| er/sie/es | kommt her | he/she/it comes from |
| wir | kommen her | we come from |
| ihr | kommt her | you (pl.) come from |
| sie/Sie | kommen her | they come from |
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 | kam her | I came from |
| du | kamst her | you came from |
| er/sie/es | kam her | he/she/it came from |
| wir | kamen her | we came from |
| ihr | kamt her | you (pl.) came from |
| sie/Sie | kamen her | they came from |
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 | bin hergekommen | I have come from |
| du | bist hergekommen | you have come from |
| er/sie/es | ist hergekommen | he/she/it has come from |
| wir | sind hergekommen | we have come from |
| ihr | seid hergekommen | you (pl.) have come from |
| sie/Sie | sind hergekommen | they have come from |
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 | war hergekommen | I had come from |
| du | warst hergekommen | you had come from |
| er/sie/es | war hergekommen | he/she/it had come from |
| wir | waren hergekommen | we had come from |
| ihr | wart hergekommen | you (pl.) had come from |
| sie/Sie | waren hergekommen | they had come from |
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 herkommen | I will come from |
| du | wirst herkommen | you will come from |
| er/sie/es | wird herkommen | he/she/it will come from |
| wir | werden herkommen | we will come from |
| ihr | werdet herkommen | you (pl.) will come from |
| sie/Sie | werden herkommen | they will come from |
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 hergekommen sein | I will have come from |
| du | wirst hergekommen sein | you will have come from |
| er/sie/es | wird hergekommen sein | he/she/it will have come from |
| wir | werden hergekommen sein | we will have come from |
| ihr | werdet hergekommen sein | you (pl.) will have come from |
| sie/Sie | werden hergekommen sein | they will have come from |
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 | käme her |
| du | kämest her |
| er/sie/es | käme her |
| wir | kämen her |
| ihr | kämet her |
| sie/Sie | kämen her |
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 | komme her |
| ihr | kommt her |