kriechen — German conjugation
to crawl
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 | krieche | I crawl |
| du | kriechst | you crawl |
| er/sie/es | kriecht | he/she/it crawls |
| wir | kriechen | we crawl |
| ihr | kriecht | you (pl.) crawl |
| sie/Sie | kriechen | they crawl |
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 | kroch | I crawled |
| du | krochst | you crawled |
| er/sie/es | kroch | he/she/it crawled |
| wir | krochen | we crawled |
| ihr | krocht | you (pl.) crawled |
| sie/Sie | krochen | they crawled |
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 gekrochen | I have crawled |
| du | bist gekrochen | you have crawled |
| er/sie/es | ist gekrochen | he/she/it has crawled |
| wir | sind gekrochen | we have crawled |
| ihr | seid gekrochen | you (pl.) have crawled |
| sie/Sie | sind gekrochen | they have crawled |
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 gekrochen | I had crawled |
| du | warst gekrochen | you had crawled |
| er/sie/es | war gekrochen | he/she/it had crawled |
| wir | waren gekrochen | we had crawled |
| ihr | wart gekrochen | you (pl.) had crawled |
| sie/Sie | waren gekrochen | they had crawled |
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 kriechen | I will crawl |
| du | wirst kriechen | you will crawl |
| er/sie/es | wird kriechen | he/she/it will crawl |
| wir | werden kriechen | we will crawl |
| ihr | werdet kriechen | you (pl.) will crawl |
| sie/Sie | werden kriechen | they will crawl |
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 gekrochen sein | I will have crawled |
| du | wirst gekrochen sein | you will have crawled |
| er/sie/es | wird gekrochen sein | he/she/it will have crawled |
| wir | werden gekrochen sein | we will have crawled |
| ihr | werdet gekrochen sein | you (pl.) will have crawled |
| sie/Sie | werden gekrochen sein | they will have crawled |
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 | kröche |
| du | kröchest |
| er/sie/es | kröche |
| wir | kröchen |
| ihr | kröchet |
| sie/Sie | kröchen |
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 | krieche |
| ihr | kriecht |