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