klappen — German conjugation
to work out, to succeed
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 | klappe | I work out |
| du | klappst | you work out |
| er/sie/es | klappt | he/she/it works out |
| wir | klappen | we work out |
| ihr | klappt | you (pl.) work out |
| sie/Sie | klappen | they work out |
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 | klappte | I worked out |
| du | klapptest | you worked out |
| er/sie/es | klappte | he/she/it worked out |
| wir | klappten | we worked out |
| ihr | klapptet | you (pl.) worked out |
| sie/Sie | klappten | they worked out |
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 geklappt | I have worked out |
| du | hast geklappt | you have worked out |
| er/sie/es | hat geklappt | he/she/it has worked out |
| wir | haben geklappt | we have worked out |
| ihr | habt geklappt | you (pl.) have worked out |
| sie/Sie | haben geklappt | they have worked out |
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 geklappt | I had worked out |
| du | hattest geklappt | you had worked out |
| er/sie/es | hatte geklappt | he/she/it had worked out |
| wir | hatten geklappt | we had worked out |
| ihr | hattet geklappt | you (pl.) had worked out |
| sie/Sie | hatten geklappt | they had worked out |
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 klappen | I will work out |
| du | wirst klappen | you will work out |
| er/sie/es | wird klappen | he/she/it will work out |
| wir | werden klappen | we will work out |
| ihr | werdet klappen | you (pl.) will work out |
| sie/Sie | werden klappen | they will work out |
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 geklappt haben | I will have worked out |
| du | wirst geklappt haben | you will have worked out |
| er/sie/es | wird geklappt haben | he/she/it will have worked out |
| wir | werden geklappt haben | we will have worked out |
| ihr | werdet geklappt haben | you (pl.) will have worked out |
| sie/Sie | werden geklappt haben | they will have worked out |
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 | klappte |
| du | klapptest |
| er/sie/es | klappte |
| wir | klappten |
| ihr | klapptet |
| sie/Sie | klappten |
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 | klappe |
| ihr | klappt |