kommen — German conjugation
to come
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Irregular
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 | komme | I come |
| du | kommst | you come |
| er/sie/es | kommt | he/she/it comes |
| wir | kommen | we come |
| ihr | kommt | you (pl.) come |
| sie/Sie | kommen | they come |
Simple past (Präteritum) Irregular
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 | kam | I came |
| du | kamst | you came |
| er/sie/es | kam | he/she/it came |
| wir | kamen | we came |
| ihr | kamt | you (pl.) came |
| sie/Sie | kamen | they came |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Irregular
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 | bin gekommen | I have come |
| du | bist gekommen | you have come |
| er/sie/es | ist gekommen | he/she/it has come |
| wir | sind gekommen | we have come |
| ihr | seid gekommen | you (pl.) have come |
| sie/Sie | sind gekommen | they have come |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Irregular
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 | war gekommen | I had come |
| du | warst gekommen | you had come |
| er/sie/es | war gekommen | he/she/it had come |
| wir | waren gekommen | we had come |
| ihr | wart gekommen | you (pl.) had come |
| sie/Sie | waren gekommen | they had come |
Future I (Futur I) Irregular
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 kommen | I will come |
| du | wirst kommen | you will come |
| er/sie/es | wird kommen | he/she/it will come |
| wir | werden kommen | we will come |
| ihr | werdet kommen | you (pl.) will come |
| sie/Sie | werden kommen | they will come |
Future II (Futur II) Irregular
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 gekommen sein | I will have come |
| du | wirst gekommen sein | you will have come |
| er/sie/es | wird gekommen sein | he/she/it will have come |
| wir | werden gekommen sein | we will have come |
| ihr | werdet gekommen sein | you (pl.) will have come |
| sie/Sie | werden gekommen sein | they will have come |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Irregular
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 | käme |
| du | kämest |
| er/sie/es | käme |
| wir | kämen |
| ihr | kämet |
| sie/Sie | kämen |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Irregular
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 | komme |
| ihr | kommt |