horchen — German conjugation
to listen
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 | horche | I listen |
| du | horchst | you listen |
| er/sie/es | horcht | he/she/it listens |
| wir | horchen | we listen |
| ihr | horcht | you (pl.) listen |
| sie/Sie | horchen | they listen |
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 | horchte | I listened |
| du | horchtest | you listened |
| er/sie/es | horchte | he/she/it listened |
| wir | horchten | we listened |
| ihr | horchtet | you (pl.) listened |
| sie/Sie | horchten | they listened |
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 gehorcht | I have listened |
| du | hast gehorcht | you have listened |
| er/sie/es | hat gehorcht | he/she/it has listened |
| wir | haben gehorcht | we have listened |
| ihr | habt gehorcht | you (pl.) have listened |
| sie/Sie | haben gehorcht | they have listened |
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 gehorcht | I had listened |
| du | hattest gehorcht | you had listened |
| er/sie/es | hatte gehorcht | he/she/it had listened |
| wir | hatten gehorcht | we had listened |
| ihr | hattet gehorcht | you (pl.) had listened |
| sie/Sie | hatten gehorcht | they had listened |
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 horchen | I will listen |
| du | wirst horchen | you will listen |
| er/sie/es | wird horchen | he/she/it will listen |
| wir | werden horchen | we will listen |
| ihr | werdet horchen | you (pl.) will listen |
| sie/Sie | werden horchen | they will listen |
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 gehorcht haben | I will have listened |
| du | wirst gehorcht haben | you will have listened |
| er/sie/es | wird gehorcht haben | he/she/it will have listened |
| wir | werden gehorcht haben | we will have listened |
| ihr | werdet gehorcht haben | you (pl.) will have listened |
| sie/Sie | werden gehorcht haben | they will have listened |
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 | horchte |
| du | horchtest |
| er/sie/es | horchte |
| wir | horchten |
| ihr | horchtet |
| sie/Sie | horchten |
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 | horche |
| ihr | horcht |