melken — German conjugation
to milk
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 | melke | I milk |
| du | melkst | you milk |
| er/sie/es | melkt | he/she/it milks |
| wir | melken | we milk |
| ihr | melkt | you (pl.) milk |
| sie/Sie | melken | they milk |
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 | molk | I milked |
| du | molkst | you milked |
| er/sie/es | molk | he/she/it milked |
| wir | molken | we milked |
| ihr | molkt | you (pl.) milked |
| sie/Sie | molken | they milked |
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 gemolken | I have milked |
| du | hast gemolken | you have milked |
| er/sie/es | hat gemolken | he/she/it has milked |
| wir | haben gemolken | we have milked |
| ihr | habt gemolken | you (pl.) have milked |
| sie/Sie | haben gemolken | they have milked |
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 gemolken | I had milked |
| du | hattest gemolken | you had milked |
| er/sie/es | hatte gemolken | he/she/it had milked |
| wir | hatten gemolken | we had milked |
| ihr | hattet gemolken | you (pl.) had milked |
| sie/Sie | hatten gemolken | they had milked |
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 melken | I will milk |
| du | wirst melken | you will milk |
| er/sie/es | wird melken | he/she/it will milk |
| wir | werden melken | we will milk |
| ihr | werdet melken | you (pl.) will milk |
| sie/Sie | werden melken | they will milk |
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 gemolken haben | I will have milked |
| du | wirst gemolken haben | you will have milked |
| er/sie/es | wird gemolken haben | he/she/it will have milked |
| wir | werden gemolken haben | we will have milked |
| ihr | werdet gemolken haben | you (pl.) will have milked |
| sie/Sie | werden gemolken haben | they will have milked |
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 | mölke |
| du | mölkest |
| er/sie/es | mölke |
| wir | mölken |
| ihr | mölket |
| sie/Sie | mölken |
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 | melke |
| ihr | melkt |