leben — German conjugation
to live
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 | lebe | I live |
| du | lebst | you live |
| er/sie/es | lebt | he/she/it lives |
| wir | leben | we live |
| ihr | lebt | you (pl.) live |
| sie/Sie | leben | they live |
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 | lebte | I lived |
| du | lebtest | you lived |
| er/sie/es | lebte | he/she/it lived |
| wir | lebten | we lived |
| ihr | lebtet | you (pl.) lived |
| sie/Sie | lebten | they lived |
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 gelebt | I have lived |
| du | hast gelebt | you have lived |
| er/sie/es | hat gelebt | he/she/it has lived |
| wir | haben gelebt | we have lived |
| ihr | habt gelebt | you (pl.) have lived |
| sie/Sie | haben gelebt | they have lived |
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 gelebt | I had lived |
| du | hattest gelebt | you had lived |
| er/sie/es | hatte gelebt | he/she/it had lived |
| wir | hatten gelebt | we had lived |
| ihr | hattet gelebt | you (pl.) had lived |
| sie/Sie | hatten gelebt | they had lived |
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 leben | I will live |
| du | wirst leben | you will live |
| er/sie/es | wird leben | he/she/it will live |
| wir | werden leben | we will live |
| ihr | werdet leben | you (pl.) will live |
| sie/Sie | werden leben | they will live |
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 gelebt haben | I will have lived |
| du | wirst gelebt haben | you will have lived |
| er/sie/es | wird gelebt haben | he/she/it will have lived |
| wir | werden gelebt haben | we will have lived |
| ihr | werdet gelebt haben | you (pl.) will have lived |
| sie/Sie | werden gelebt haben | they will have lived |
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 | lebte |
| du | lebtest |
| er/sie/es | lebte |
| wir | lebten |
| ihr | lebtet |
| sie/Sie | lebten |
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 | lebe |
| ihr | lebt |