kochen — German conjugation
to cook
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 | koche | I cook |
| du | kochst | you cook |
| er/sie/es | kocht | he/she/it cooks |
| wir | kochen | we cook |
| ihr | kocht | you (pl.) cook |
| sie/Sie | kochen | they cook |
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 | kochte | I cooked |
| du | kochtest | you cooked |
| er/sie/es | kochte | he/she/it cooked |
| wir | kochten | we cooked |
| ihr | kochtet | you (pl.) cooked |
| sie/Sie | kochten | they cooked |
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 gekocht | I have cooked |
| du | hast gekocht | you have cooked |
| er/sie/es | hat gekocht | he/she/it has cooked |
| wir | haben gekocht | we have cooked |
| ihr | habt gekocht | you (pl.) have cooked |
| sie/Sie | haben gekocht | they have cooked |
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 gekocht | I had cooked |
| du | hattest gekocht | you had cooked |
| er/sie/es | hatte gekocht | he/she/it had cooked |
| wir | hatten gekocht | we had cooked |
| ihr | hattet gekocht | you (pl.) had cooked |
| sie/Sie | hatten gekocht | they had cooked |
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 kochen | I will cook |
| du | wirst kochen | you will cook |
| er/sie/es | wird kochen | he/she/it will cook |
| wir | werden kochen | we will cook |
| ihr | werdet kochen | you (pl.) will cook |
| sie/Sie | werden kochen | they will cook |
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 gekocht haben | I will have cooked |
| du | wirst gekocht haben | you will have cooked |
| er/sie/es | wird gekocht haben | he/she/it will have cooked |
| wir | werden gekocht haben | we will have cooked |
| ihr | werdet gekocht haben | you (pl.) will have cooked |
| sie/Sie | werden gekocht haben | they will have cooked |
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 | kochte |
| du | kochtest |
| er/sie/es | kochte |
| wir | kochten |
| ihr | kochtet |
| sie/Sie | kochten |
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 | koche |
| ihr | kocht |