lehren — German conjugation
to teach (a class, a subject); to be a teacher
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 | lehre | I teach |
| du | lehrst | you teach |
| er/sie/es | lehrt | he/she/it teaches |
| wir | lehren | we teach |
| ihr | lehrt | you (pl.) teach |
| sie/Sie | lehren | they teach |
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 | lehrte | I taught |
| du | lehrtest | you taught |
| er/sie/es | lehrte | he/she/it taught |
| wir | lehrten | we taught |
| ihr | lehrtet | you (pl.) taught |
| sie/Sie | lehrten | they taught |
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 gelehrt | I have taught |
| du | hast gelehrt | you have taught |
| er/sie/es | hat gelehrt | he/she/it has taught |
| wir | haben gelehrt | we have taught |
| ihr | habt gelehrt | you (pl.) have taught |
| sie/Sie | haben gelehrt | they have taught |
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 gelehrt | I had taught |
| du | hattest gelehrt | you had taught |
| er/sie/es | hatte gelehrt | he/she/it had taught |
| wir | hatten gelehrt | we had taught |
| ihr | hattet gelehrt | you (pl.) had taught |
| sie/Sie | hatten gelehrt | they had taught |
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 lehren | I will teach |
| du | wirst lehren | you will teach |
| er/sie/es | wird lehren | he/she/it will teach |
| wir | werden lehren | we will teach |
| ihr | werdet lehren | you (pl.) will teach |
| sie/Sie | werden lehren | they will teach |
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 gelehrt haben | I will have taught |
| du | wirst gelehrt haben | you will have taught |
| er/sie/es | wird gelehrt haben | he/she/it will have taught |
| wir | werden gelehrt haben | we will have taught |
| ihr | werdet gelehrt haben | you (pl.) will have taught |
| sie/Sie | werden gelehrt haben | they will have taught |
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 | lehrte |
| du | lehrtest |
| er/sie/es | lehrte |
| wir | lehrten |
| ihr | lehrtet |
| sie/Sie | lehrten |
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 | lehre |
| ihr | lehrt |