lauern — German conjugation
to lurk
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 | lauere | I lurk |
| du | lauerst | you lurk |
| er/sie/es | lauert | he/she/it lurks |
| wir | lauern | we lurk |
| ihr | lauert | you (pl.) lurk |
| sie/Sie | lauern | they lurk |
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 | lauerte | I lurked |
| du | lauertest | you lurked |
| er/sie/es | lauerte | he/she/it lurked |
| wir | lauerten | we lurked |
| ihr | lauertet | you (pl.) lurked |
| sie/Sie | lauerten | they lurked |
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 gelauert | I have lurked |
| du | hast gelauert | you have lurked |
| er/sie/es | hat gelauert | he/she/it has lurked |
| wir | haben gelauert | we have lurked |
| ihr | habt gelauert | you (pl.) have lurked |
| sie/Sie | haben gelauert | they have lurked |
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 gelauert | I had lurked |
| du | hattest gelauert | you had lurked |
| er/sie/es | hatte gelauert | he/she/it had lurked |
| wir | hatten gelauert | we had lurked |
| ihr | hattet gelauert | you (pl.) had lurked |
| sie/Sie | hatten gelauert | they had lurked |
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 lauern | I will lurk |
| du | wirst lauern | you will lurk |
| er/sie/es | wird lauern | he/she/it will lurk |
| wir | werden lauern | we will lurk |
| ihr | werdet lauern | you (pl.) will lurk |
| sie/Sie | werden lauern | they will lurk |
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 gelauert haben | I will have lurked |
| du | wirst gelauert haben | you will have lurked |
| er/sie/es | wird gelauert haben | he/she/it will have lurked |
| wir | werden gelauert haben | we will have lurked |
| ihr | werdet gelauert haben | you (pl.) will have lurked |
| sie/Sie | werden gelauert haben | they will have lurked |
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 | lauerte |
| du | lauertest |
| er/sie/es | lauerte |
| wir | lauerten |
| ihr | lauertet |
| sie/Sie | lauerten |
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 | lauere |
| ihr | lauert |