lernen — German conjugation
to learn
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 | lerne | I learn |
| du | lernst | you learn |
| er/sie/es | lernt | he/she/it learns |
| wir | lernen | we learn |
| ihr | lernt | you (pl.) learn |
| sie/Sie | lernen | they learn |
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 | lernte | I learned |
| du | lerntest | you learned |
| er/sie/es | lernte | he/she/it learned |
| wir | lernten | we learned |
| ihr | lerntet | you (pl.) learned |
| sie/Sie | lernten | they learned |
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 gelernt | I have learned |
| du | hast gelernt | you have learned |
| er/sie/es | hat gelernt | he/she/it has learned |
| wir | haben gelernt | we have learned |
| ihr | habt gelernt | you (pl.) have learned |
| sie/Sie | haben gelernt | they have learned |
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 gelernt | I had learned |
| du | hattest gelernt | you had learned |
| er/sie/es | hatte gelernt | he/she/it had learned |
| wir | hatten gelernt | we had learned |
| ihr | hattet gelernt | you (pl.) had learned |
| sie/Sie | hatten gelernt | they had learned |
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 lernen | I will learn |
| du | wirst lernen | you will learn |
| er/sie/es | wird lernen | he/she/it will learn |
| wir | werden lernen | we will learn |
| ihr | werdet lernen | you (pl.) will learn |
| sie/Sie | werden lernen | they will learn |
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 gelernt haben | I will have learned |
| du | wirst gelernt haben | you will have learned |
| er/sie/es | wird gelernt haben | he/she/it will have learned |
| wir | werden gelernt haben | we will have learned |
| ihr | werdet gelernt haben | you (pl.) will have learned |
| sie/Sie | werden gelernt haben | they will have learned |
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 | lernte |
| du | lerntest |
| er/sie/es | lernte |
| wir | lernten |
| ihr | lerntet |
| sie/Sie | lernten |
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 | lerne |
| ihr | lernt |