irren (sich) — German conjugation
to be mistaken, to err
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 | irre mich | I am mistaken |
| du | irrst dich | you are mistaken |
| er/sie/es | irrt sich | he/she/it is mistaken |
| wir | irren uns | we are mistaken |
| ihr | irrt euch | you (pl.) are mistaken |
| sie/Sie | irren sich | they are mistaken |
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 | irrte mich | I was mistaken |
| du | irrtest dich | you were mistaken |
| er/sie/es | irrte sich | he/she/it was mistaken |
| wir | irrten uns | we were mistaken |
| ihr | irrtet euch | you (pl.) were mistaken |
| sie/Sie | irrten sich | they were mistaken |
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 mich geirrt | I have been mistaken |
| du | hast dich geirrt | you have been mistaken |
| er/sie/es | hat sich geirrt | he/she/it has been mistaken |
| wir | haben uns geirrt | we have been mistaken |
| ihr | habt euch geirrt | you (pl.) have been mistaken |
| sie/Sie | haben sich geirrt | they have been mistaken |
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 mich geirrt | I had been mistaken |
| du | hattest dich geirrt | you had been mistaken |
| er/sie/es | hatte sich geirrt | he/she/it had been mistaken |
| wir | hatten uns geirrt | we had been mistaken |
| ihr | hattet euch geirrt | you (pl.) had been mistaken |
| sie/Sie | hatten sich geirrt | they had been mistaken |
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 mich irren | I will be mistaken |
| du | wirst dich irren | you will be mistaken |
| er/sie/es | wird sich irren | he/she/it will be mistaken |
| wir | werden uns irren | we will be mistaken |
| ihr | werdet euch irren | you (pl.) will be mistaken |
| sie/Sie | werden sich irren | they will be mistaken |
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 mich geirrt haben | I will have been mistaken |
| du | wirst dich geirrt haben | you will have been mistaken |
| er/sie/es | wird sich geirrt haben | he/she/it will have been mistaken |
| wir | werden uns geirrt haben | we will have been mistaken |
| ihr | werdet euch geirrt haben | you (pl.) will have been mistaken |
| sie/Sie | werden sich geirrt haben | they will have been mistaken |
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 | irrte mich |
| du | irrtest dich |
| er/sie/es | irrte sich |
| wir | irrten uns |
| ihr | irrtet euch |
| sie/Sie | irrten sich |
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 | irre dich |
| ihr | irrt euch |