listen — German conjugation
to list, to put on a list
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 | liste | I list |
| du | listest | you list |
| er/sie/es | listet | he/she/it lists |
| wir | listen | we list |
| ihr | listet | you (pl.) list |
| sie/Sie | listen | they list |
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 | listete | I listed |
| du | listetest | you listed |
| er/sie/es | listete | he/she/it listed |
| wir | listeten | we listed |
| ihr | listetet | you (pl.) listed |
| sie/Sie | listeten | they listed |
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 gelistet | I have listed |
| du | hast gelistet | you have listed |
| er/sie/es | hat gelistet | he/she/it has listed |
| wir | haben gelistet | we have listed |
| ihr | habt gelistet | you (pl.) have listed |
| sie/Sie | haben gelistet | they have listed |
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 gelistet | I had listed |
| du | hattest gelistet | you had listed |
| er/sie/es | hatte gelistet | he/she/it had listed |
| wir | hatten gelistet | we had listed |
| ihr | hattet gelistet | you (pl.) had listed |
| sie/Sie | hatten gelistet | they had listed |
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 listen | I will list |
| du | wirst listen | you will list |
| er/sie/es | wird listen | he/she/it will list |
| wir | werden listen | we will list |
| ihr | werdet listen | you (pl.) will list |
| sie/Sie | werden listen | they will list |
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 gelistet haben | I will have listed |
| du | wirst gelistet haben | you will have listed |
| er/sie/es | wird gelistet haben | he/she/it will have listed |
| wir | werden gelistet haben | we will have listed |
| ihr | werdet gelistet haben | you (pl.) will have listed |
| sie/Sie | werden gelistet haben | they will have listed |
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 | listete |
| du | listetest |
| er/sie/es | listete |
| wir | listeten |
| ihr | listetet |
| sie/Sie | listeten |
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 | liste |
| ihr | listet |