hinken — German conjugation
to limp
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 | hinke | I limp |
| du | hinkst | you limp |
| er/sie/es | hinkt | he/she/it limps |
| wir | hinken | we limp |
| ihr | hinkt | you (pl.) limp |
| sie/Sie | hinken | they limp |
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 | hinkte | I limped |
| du | hinktest | you limped |
| er/sie/es | hinkte | he/she/it limped |
| wir | hinkten | we limped |
| ihr | hinktet | you (pl.) limped |
| sie/Sie | hinkten | they limped |
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 | habe gehinkt | I have limped |
| du | hast gehinkt | you have limped |
| er/sie/es | hat gehinkt | he/she/it has limped |
| wir | haben gehinkt | we have limped |
| ihr | habt gehinkt | you (pl.) have limped |
| sie/Sie | haben gehinkt | they have limped |
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 | hatte gehinkt | I had limped |
| du | hattest gehinkt | you had limped |
| er/sie/es | hatte gehinkt | he/she/it had limped |
| wir | hatten gehinkt | we had limped |
| ihr | hattet gehinkt | you (pl.) had limped |
| sie/Sie | hatten gehinkt | they had limped |
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 hinken | I will limp |
| du | wirst hinken | you will limp |
| er/sie/es | wird hinken | he/she/it will limp |
| wir | werden hinken | we will limp |
| ihr | werdet hinken | you (pl.) will limp |
| sie/Sie | werden hinken | they will limp |
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 gehinkt haben | I will have limped |
| du | wirst gehinkt haben | you will have limped |
| er/sie/es | wird gehinkt haben | he/she/it will have limped |
| wir | werden gehinkt haben | we will have limped |
| ihr | werdet gehinkt haben | you (pl.) will have limped |
| sie/Sie | werden gehinkt haben | they will have limped |
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 | hinkte |
| du | hinktest |
| er/sie/es | hinkte |
| wir | hinkten |
| ihr | hinktet |
| sie/Sie | hinkten |
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 | hinke |
| ihr | hinkt |