löhnen — German conjugation

to pay

Frequency#2595Regular

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichlöhneI pay
dulöhnstyou pay
er/sie/eslöhnthe/she/it pays
wirlöhnenwe pay
ihrlöhntyou (pl.) pay
sie/Sielöhnenthey pay

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichlöhnteI paid
dulöhntestyou paid
er/sie/eslöhntehe/she/it paid
wirlöhntenwe paid
ihrlöhntetyou (pl.) paid
sie/Sielöhntenthey paid

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhabe gelöhntI have paid
duhast gelöhntyou have paid
er/sie/eshat gelöhnthe/she/it has paid
wirhaben gelöhntwe have paid
ihrhabt gelöhntyou (pl.) have paid
sie/Siehaben gelöhntthey have paid

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhatte gelöhntI had paid
duhattest gelöhntyou had paid
er/sie/eshatte gelöhnthe/she/it had paid
wirhatten gelöhntwe had paid
ihrhattet gelöhntyou (pl.) had paid
sie/Siehatten gelöhntthey had paid

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde löhnenI will pay
duwirst löhnenyou will pay
er/sie/eswird löhnenhe/she/it will pay
wirwerden löhnenwe will pay
ihrwerdet löhnenyou (pl.) will pay
sie/Siewerden löhnenthey will pay

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde gelöhnt habenI will have paid
duwirst gelöhnt habenyou will have paid
er/sie/eswird gelöhnt habenhe/she/it will have paid
wirwerden gelöhnt habenwe will have paid
ihrwerdet gelöhnt habenyou (pl.) will have paid
sie/Siewerden gelöhnt habenthey will have paid

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?

PronounGerman
ichlöhnte
dulöhntest
er/sie/eslöhnte
wirlöhnten
ihrlöhntet
sie/Sielöhnten

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.

PronounGerman
dulöhne
ihrlöhnt