lächeln — German conjugation
to smile
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 | lächele | I smile |
| du | lächelst | you smile |
| er/sie/es | lächelt | he/she/it smiles |
| wir | lächeln | we smile |
| ihr | lächelt | you (pl.) smile |
| sie/Sie | lächeln | they smile |
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 | lächelte | I smiled |
| du | lächeltest | you smiled |
| er/sie/es | lächelte | he/she/it smiled |
| wir | lächelten | we smiled |
| ihr | lächeltet | you (pl.) smiled |
| sie/Sie | lächelten | they smiled |
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 gelächelt | I have smiled |
| du | hast gelächelt | you have smiled |
| er/sie/es | hat gelächelt | he/she/it has smiled |
| wir | haben gelächelt | we have smiled |
| ihr | habt gelächelt | you (pl.) have smiled |
| sie/Sie | haben gelächelt | they have smiled |
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 gelächelt | I had smiled |
| du | hattest gelächelt | you had smiled |
| er/sie/es | hatte gelächelt | he/she/it had smiled |
| wir | hatten gelächelt | we had smiled |
| ihr | hattet gelächelt | you (pl.) had smiled |
| sie/Sie | hatten gelächelt | they had smiled |
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 lächeln | I will smile |
| du | wirst lächeln | you will smile |
| er/sie/es | wird lächeln | he/she/it will smile |
| wir | werden lächeln | we will smile |
| ihr | werdet lächeln | you (pl.) will smile |
| sie/Sie | werden lächeln | they will smile |
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 gelächelt haben | I will have smiled |
| du | wirst gelächelt haben | you will have smiled |
| er/sie/es | wird gelächelt haben | he/she/it will have smiled |
| wir | werden gelächelt haben | we will have smiled |
| ihr | werdet gelächelt haben | you (pl.) will have smiled |
| sie/Sie | werden gelächelt haben | they will have smiled |
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 | lächelte |
| du | lächeltest |
| er/sie/es | lächelte |
| wir | lächelten |
| ihr | lächeltet |
| sie/Sie | lächelten |
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 | lächele |
| ihr | lächelt |