lauten — German conjugation
to sound
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 | laute | I sound |
| du | lautest | you sound |
| er/sie/es | lautet | he/she/it sounds |
| wir | lauten | we sound |
| ihr | lautet | you (pl.) sound |
| sie/Sie | lauten | they sound |
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 | lautete | I sounded |
| du | lautetest | you sounded |
| er/sie/es | lautete | he/she/it sounded |
| wir | lauteten | we sounded |
| ihr | lautetet | you (pl.) sounded |
| sie/Sie | lauteten | they sounded |
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 gelautet | I have sounded |
| du | hast gelautet | you have sounded |
| er/sie/es | hat gelautet | he/she/it has sounded |
| wir | haben gelautet | we have sounded |
| ihr | habt gelautet | you (pl.) have sounded |
| sie/Sie | haben gelautet | they have sounded |
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 gelautet | I had sounded |
| du | hattest gelautet | you had sounded |
| er/sie/es | hatte gelautet | he/she/it had sounded |
| wir | hatten gelautet | we had sounded |
| ihr | hattet gelautet | you (pl.) had sounded |
| sie/Sie | hatten gelautet | they had sounded |
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 lauten | I will sound |
| du | wirst lauten | you will sound |
| er/sie/es | wird lauten | he/she/it will sound |
| wir | werden lauten | we will sound |
| ihr | werdet lauten | you (pl.) will sound |
| sie/Sie | werden lauten | they will sound |
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 gelautet haben | I will have sounded |
| du | wirst gelautet haben | you will have sounded |
| er/sie/es | wird gelautet haben | he/she/it will have sounded |
| wir | werden gelautet haben | we will have sounded |
| ihr | werdet gelautet haben | you (pl.) will have sounded |
| sie/Sie | werden gelautet haben | they will have sounded |
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 | lautete |
| du | lautetest |
| er/sie/es | lautete |
| wir | lauteten |
| ihr | lautetet |
| sie/Sie | lauteten |
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 | laute |
| ihr | lautet |