kaufen — German conjugation
to buy, to purchase
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 | kaufe | I buy |
| du | kaufst | you buy |
| er/sie/es | kauft | he/she/it buys |
| wir | kaufen | we buy |
| ihr | kauft | you (pl.) buy |
| sie/Sie | kaufen | they buy |
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 | kaufte | I bought |
| du | kauftest | you bought |
| er/sie/es | kaufte | he/she/it bought |
| wir | kauften | we bought |
| ihr | kauftet | you (pl.) bought |
| sie/Sie | kauften | they bought |
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 gekauft | I have bought |
| du | hast gekauft | you have bought |
| er/sie/es | hat gekauft | he/she/it has bought |
| wir | haben gekauft | we have bought |
| ihr | habt gekauft | you (pl.) have bought |
| sie/Sie | haben gekauft | they have bought |
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 gekauft | I had bought |
| du | hattest gekauft | you had bought |
| er/sie/es | hatte gekauft | he/she/it had bought |
| wir | hatten gekauft | we had bought |
| ihr | hattet gekauft | you (pl.) had bought |
| sie/Sie | hatten gekauft | they had bought |
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 kaufen | I will buy |
| du | wirst kaufen | you will buy |
| er/sie/es | wird kaufen | he/she/it will buy |
| wir | werden kaufen | we will buy |
| ihr | werdet kaufen | you (pl.) will buy |
| sie/Sie | werden kaufen | they will buy |
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 gekauft haben | I will have bought |
| du | wirst gekauft haben | you will have bought |
| er/sie/es | wird gekauft haben | he/she/it will have bought |
| wir | werden gekauft haben | we will have bought |
| ihr | werdet gekauft haben | you (pl.) will have bought |
| sie/Sie | werden gekauft haben | they will have bought |
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 | kaufte |
| du | kauftest |
| er/sie/es | kaufte |
| wir | kauften |
| ihr | kauftet |
| sie/Sie | kauften |
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 | kaufe |
| ihr | kauft |