köpfen — German conjugation
to behead (kill by cutting off the head)
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 | köpfe | I behead |
| du | köpfst | you behead |
| er/sie/es | köpft | he/she/it beheads |
| wir | köpfen | we behead |
| ihr | köpft | you (pl.) behead |
| sie/Sie | köpfen | they behead |
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 | köpfte | I beheaded |
| du | köpftest | you beheaded |
| er/sie/es | köpfte | he/she/it beheaded |
| wir | köpften | we beheaded |
| ihr | köpftet | you (pl.) beheaded |
| sie/Sie | köpften | they beheaded |
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 geköpft | I have beheaded |
| du | hast geköpft | you have beheaded |
| er/sie/es | hat geköpft | he/she/it has beheaded |
| wir | haben geköpft | we have beheaded |
| ihr | habt geköpft | you (pl.) have beheaded |
| sie/Sie | haben geköpft | they have beheaded |
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 geköpft | I had beheaded |
| du | hattest geköpft | you had beheaded |
| er/sie/es | hatte geköpft | he/she/it had beheaded |
| wir | hatten geköpft | we had beheaded |
| ihr | hattet geköpft | you (pl.) had beheaded |
| sie/Sie | hatten geköpft | they had beheaded |
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 köpfen | I will behead |
| du | wirst köpfen | you will behead |
| er/sie/es | wird köpfen | he/she/it will behead |
| wir | werden köpfen | we will behead |
| ihr | werdet köpfen | you (pl.) will behead |
| sie/Sie | werden köpfen | they will behead |
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 geköpft haben | I will have beheaded |
| du | wirst geköpft haben | you will have beheaded |
| er/sie/es | wird geköpft haben | he/she/it will have beheaded |
| wir | werden geköpft haben | we will have beheaded |
| ihr | werdet geköpft haben | you (pl.) will have beheaded |
| sie/Sie | werden geköpft haben | they will have beheaded |
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 | köpfte |
| du | köpftest |
| er/sie/es | köpfte |
| wir | köpften |
| ihr | köpftet |
| sie/Sie | köpften |
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 | köpfe |
| ihr | köpft |