meiden — German conjugation
to avoid, to keep away from
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 | meide | I avoid |
| du | meidest | you avoid |
| er/sie/es | meidet | he/she/it avoids |
| wir | meiden | we avoid |
| ihr | meidet | you (pl.) avoid |
| sie/Sie | meiden | they avoid |
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 | mied | I avoided |
| du | miedest | you avoided |
| er/sie/es | mied | he/she/it avoided |
| wir | mieden | we avoided |
| ihr | miedet | you (pl.) avoided |
| sie/Sie | mieden | they avoided |
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 gemieden | I have avoided |
| du | hast gemieden | you have avoided |
| er/sie/es | hat gemieden | he/she/it has avoided |
| wir | haben gemieden | we have avoided |
| ihr | habt gemieden | you (pl.) have avoided |
| sie/Sie | haben gemieden | they have avoided |
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 gemieden | I had avoided |
| du | hattest gemieden | you had avoided |
| er/sie/es | hatte gemieden | he/she/it had avoided |
| wir | hatten gemieden | we had avoided |
| ihr | hattet gemieden | you (pl.) had avoided |
| sie/Sie | hatten gemieden | they had avoided |
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 meiden | I will avoid |
| du | wirst meiden | you will avoid |
| er/sie/es | wird meiden | he/she/it will avoid |
| wir | werden meiden | we will avoid |
| ihr | werdet meiden | you (pl.) will avoid |
| sie/Sie | werden meiden | they will avoid |
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 gemieden haben | I will have avoided |
| du | wirst gemieden haben | you will have avoided |
| er/sie/es | wird gemieden haben | he/she/it will have avoided |
| wir | werden gemieden haben | we will have avoided |
| ihr | werdet gemieden haben | you (pl.) will have avoided |
| sie/Sie | werden gemieden haben | they will have avoided |
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 | miede |
| du | miedest |
| er/sie/es | miede |
| wir | mieden |
| ihr | miedet |
| sie/Sie | mieden |
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 | meide |
| ihr | meidet |