meinen — German conjugation
to mean
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 | meine | I mean |
| du | meinst | you mean |
| er/sie/es | meint | he/she/it means |
| wir | meinen | we mean |
| ihr | meint | you (pl.) mean |
| sie/Sie | meinen | they mean |
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 | meinte | I meant |
| du | meintest | you meant |
| er/sie/es | meinte | he/she/it meant |
| wir | meinten | we meant |
| ihr | meintet | you (pl.) meant |
| sie/Sie | meinten | they meant |
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 gemeint | I have meant |
| du | hast gemeint | you have meant |
| er/sie/es | hat gemeint | he/she/it has meant |
| wir | haben gemeint | we have meant |
| ihr | habt gemeint | you (pl.) have meant |
| sie/Sie | haben gemeint | they have meant |
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 gemeint | I had meant |
| du | hattest gemeint | you had meant |
| er/sie/es | hatte gemeint | he/she/it had meant |
| wir | hatten gemeint | we had meant |
| ihr | hattet gemeint | you (pl.) had meant |
| sie/Sie | hatten gemeint | they had meant |
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 meinen | I will mean |
| du | wirst meinen | you will mean |
| er/sie/es | wird meinen | he/she/it will mean |
| wir | werden meinen | we will mean |
| ihr | werdet meinen | you (pl.) will mean |
| sie/Sie | werden meinen | they will mean |
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 gemeint haben | I will have meant |
| du | wirst gemeint haben | you will have meant |
| er/sie/es | wird gemeint haben | he/she/it will have meant |
| wir | werden gemeint haben | we will have meant |
| ihr | werdet gemeint haben | you (pl.) will have meant |
| sie/Sie | werden gemeint haben | they will have meant |
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 | meinte |
| du | meintest |
| er/sie/es | meinte |
| wir | meinten |
| ihr | meintet |
| sie/Sie | meinten |
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 | meine |
| ihr | meint |