liegen — German conjugation
to lie (down)
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Irregular
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 | liege | I lie |
| du | liegst | you lie |
| er/sie/es | liegt | he/she/it lies |
| wir | liegen | we lie |
| ihr | liegt | you (pl.) lie |
| sie/Sie | liegen | they lie |
Simple past (Präteritum) Irregular
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 | lag | I lied |
| du | lagst | you lied |
| er/sie/es | lag | he/she/it lied |
| wir | lagen | we lied |
| ihr | lagt | you (pl.) lied |
| sie/Sie | lagen | they lied |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Irregular
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 gelegen | I have lied |
| du | hast gelegen | you have lied |
| er/sie/es | hat gelegen | he/she/it has lied |
| wir | haben gelegen | we have lied |
| ihr | habt gelegen | you (pl.) have lied |
| sie/Sie | haben gelegen | they have lied |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Irregular
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 gelegen | I had lied |
| du | hattest gelegen | you had lied |
| er/sie/es | hatte gelegen | he/she/it had lied |
| wir | hatten gelegen | we had lied |
| ihr | hattet gelegen | you (pl.) had lied |
| sie/Sie | hatten gelegen | they had lied |
Future I (Futur I) Irregular
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 liegen | I will lie |
| du | wirst liegen | you will lie |
| er/sie/es | wird liegen | he/she/it will lie |
| wir | werden liegen | we will lie |
| ihr | werdet liegen | you (pl.) will lie |
| sie/Sie | werden liegen | they will lie |
Future II (Futur II) Irregular
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 gelegen haben | I will have lied |
| du | wirst gelegen haben | you will have lied |
| er/sie/es | wird gelegen haben | he/she/it will have lied |
| wir | werden gelegen haben | we will have lied |
| ihr | werdet gelegen haben | you (pl.) will have lied |
| sie/Sie | werden gelegen haben | they will have lied |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Irregular
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 | läge |
| du | lägest |
| er/sie/es | läge |
| wir | lägen |
| ihr | läget |
| sie/Sie | lägen |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Irregular
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 | liege |
| ihr | liegt |