lohnen — German conjugation
to be worth it
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 | lohne | I am worth it |
| du | lohnst | you are worth it |
| er/sie/es | lohnt | he/she/it is worth it |
| wir | lohnen | we are worth it |
| ihr | lohnt | you (pl.) are worth it |
| sie/Sie | lohnen | they are worth it |
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 | lohnte | I was worth it |
| du | lohntest | you were worth it |
| er/sie/es | lohnte | he/she/it was worth it |
| wir | lohnten | we were worth it |
| ihr | lohntet | you (pl.) were worth it |
| sie/Sie | lohnten | they were worth it |
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 gelohnt | I have been worth it |
| du | hast gelohnt | you have been worth it |
| er/sie/es | hat gelohnt | he/she/it has been worth it |
| wir | haben gelohnt | we have been worth it |
| ihr | habt gelohnt | you (pl.) have been worth it |
| sie/Sie | haben gelohnt | they have been worth it |
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 gelohnt | I had been worth it |
| du | hattest gelohnt | you had been worth it |
| er/sie/es | hatte gelohnt | he/she/it had been worth it |
| wir | hatten gelohnt | we had been worth it |
| ihr | hattet gelohnt | you (pl.) had been worth it |
| sie/Sie | hatten gelohnt | they had been worth it |
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 lohnen | I will be worth it |
| du | wirst lohnen | you will be worth it |
| er/sie/es | wird lohnen | he/she/it will be worth it |
| wir | werden lohnen | we will be worth it |
| ihr | werdet lohnen | you (pl.) will be worth it |
| sie/Sie | werden lohnen | they will be worth it |
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 gelohnt haben | I will have been worth it |
| du | wirst gelohnt haben | you will have been worth it |
| er/sie/es | wird gelohnt haben | he/she/it will have been worth it |
| wir | werden gelohnt haben | we will have been worth it |
| ihr | werdet gelohnt haben | you (pl.) will have been worth it |
| sie/Sie | werden gelohnt haben | they will have been worth it |
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 | lohnte |
| du | lohntest |
| er/sie/es | lohnte |
| wir | lohnten |
| ihr | lohntet |
| sie/Sie | lohnten |
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 | lohne |
| ihr | lohnt |