nähern — German conjugation
to approach, to come near
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 | nähere | I approach |
| du | näherst | you approach |
| er/sie/es | nähert | he/she/it approaches |
| wir | nähern | we approach |
| ihr | nähert | you (pl.) approach |
| sie/Sie | nähern | they approach |
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 | näherte | I approached |
| du | nähertest | you approached |
| er/sie/es | näherte | he/she/it approached |
| wir | näherten | we approached |
| ihr | nähertet | you (pl.) approached |
| sie/Sie | näherten | they approached |
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 genähert | I have approached |
| du | hast genähert | you have approached |
| er/sie/es | hat genähert | he/she/it has approached |
| wir | haben genähert | we have approached |
| ihr | habt genähert | you (pl.) have approached |
| sie/Sie | haben genähert | they have approached |
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 genähert | I had approached |
| du | hattest genähert | you had approached |
| er/sie/es | hatte genähert | he/she/it had approached |
| wir | hatten genähert | we had approached |
| ihr | hattet genähert | you (pl.) had approached |
| sie/Sie | hatten genähert | they had approached |
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 nähern | I will approach |
| du | wirst nähern | you will approach |
| er/sie/es | wird nähern | he/she/it will approach |
| wir | werden nähern | we will approach |
| ihr | werdet nähern | you (pl.) will approach |
| sie/Sie | werden nähern | they will approach |
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 genähert haben | I will have approached |
| du | wirst genähert haben | you will have approached |
| er/sie/es | wird genähert haben | he/she/it will have approached |
| wir | werden genähert haben | we will have approached |
| ihr | werdet genähert haben | you (pl.) will have approached |
| sie/Sie | werden genähert haben | they will have approached |
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 | näherte |
| du | nähertest |
| er/sie/es | näherte |
| wir | näherten |
| ihr | nähertet |
| sie/Sie | näherten |
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 | nähere |
| ihr | nähert |