niederhalten — German conjugation
to hold down
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 | halte nieder | I hold down |
| du | hältst nieder | you hold down |
| er/sie/es | hält nieder | he/she/it holds down |
| wir | halten nieder | we hold down |
| ihr | haltet nieder | you (pl.) hold down |
| sie/Sie | halten nieder | they hold down |
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 | hielt nieder | I held down |
| du | hieltest nieder | you held down |
| er/sie/es | hielt nieder | he/she/it held down |
| wir | hielten nieder | we held down |
| ihr | hieltet nieder | you (pl.) held down |
| sie/Sie | hielten nieder | they held down |
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 niedergehalten | I have held down |
| du | hast niedergehalten | you have held down |
| er/sie/es | hat niedergehalten | he/she/it has held down |
| wir | haben niedergehalten | we have held down |
| ihr | habt niedergehalten | you (pl.) have held down |
| sie/Sie | haben niedergehalten | they have held down |
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 niedergehalten | I had held down |
| du | hattest niedergehalten | you had held down |
| er/sie/es | hatte niedergehalten | he/she/it had held down |
| wir | hatten niedergehalten | we had held down |
| ihr | hattet niedergehalten | you (pl.) had held down |
| sie/Sie | hatten niedergehalten | they had held down |
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 niederhalten | I will hold down |
| du | wirst niederhalten | you will hold down |
| er/sie/es | wird niederhalten | he/she/it will hold down |
| wir | werden niederhalten | we will hold down |
| ihr | werdet niederhalten | you (pl.) will hold down |
| sie/Sie | werden niederhalten | they will hold down |
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 niedergehalten haben | I will have held down |
| du | wirst niedergehalten haben | you will have held down |
| er/sie/es | wird niedergehalten haben | he/she/it will have held down |
| wir | werden niedergehalten haben | we will have held down |
| ihr | werdet niedergehalten haben | you (pl.) will have held down |
| sie/Sie | werden niedergehalten haben | they will have held down |
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 | hielte nieder |
| du | hieltest nieder |
| er/sie/es | hielte nieder |
| wir | hielten nieder |
| ihr | hieltet nieder |
| sie/Sie | hielten nieder |
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 | halte nieder |
| ihr | haltet nieder |