kennenlernen — German conjugation
to get to know
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 | lerne kennen | I get to know |
| du | lernst kennen | you get to know |
| er/sie/es | lernt kennen | he/she/it gets to know |
| wir | lernen kennen | we get to know |
| ihr | lernt kennen | you (pl.) get to know |
| sie/Sie | lernen kennen | they get to know |
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 | lernte kennen | I got to know |
| du | lerntest kennen | you got to know |
| er/sie/es | lernte kennen | he/she/it got to know |
| wir | lernten kennen | we got to know |
| ihr | lerntet kennen | you (pl.) got to know |
| sie/Sie | lernten kennen | they got to know |
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 kennengelernt | I have gotten to know |
| du | hast kennengelernt | you have gotten to know |
| er/sie/es | hat kennengelernt | he/she/it has gotten to know |
| wir | haben kennengelernt | we have gotten to know |
| ihr | habt kennengelernt | you (pl.) have gotten to know |
| sie/Sie | haben kennengelernt | they have gotten to know |
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 kennengelernt | I had gotten to know |
| du | hattest kennengelernt | you had gotten to know |
| er/sie/es | hatte kennengelernt | he/she/it had gotten to know |
| wir | hatten kennengelernt | we had gotten to know |
| ihr | hattet kennengelernt | you (pl.) had gotten to know |
| sie/Sie | hatten kennengelernt | they had gotten to know |
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 kennenlernen | I will get to know |
| du | wirst kennenlernen | you will get to know |
| er/sie/es | wird kennenlernen | he/she/it will get to know |
| wir | werden kennenlernen | we will get to know |
| ihr | werdet kennenlernen | you (pl.) will get to know |
| sie/Sie | werden kennenlernen | they will get to know |
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 kennengelernt haben | I will have gotten to know |
| du | wirst kennengelernt haben | you will have gotten to know |
| er/sie/es | wird kennengelernt haben | he/she/it will have gotten to know |
| wir | werden kennengelernt haben | we will have gotten to know |
| ihr | werdet kennengelernt haben | you (pl.) will have gotten to know |
| sie/Sie | werden kennengelernt haben | they will have gotten to know |
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 | lernte kennen |
| du | lerntest kennen |
| er/sie/es | lernte kennen |
| wir | lernten kennen |
| ihr | lerntet kennen |
| sie/Sie | lernten kennen |
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 | lerne kennen |
| ihr | lernt kennen |