niederlegen — German conjugation
to lay down
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 | lege nieder | I lay down |
| du | legst nieder | you lay down |
| er/sie/es | legt nieder | he/she/it lays down |
| wir | legen nieder | we lay down |
| ihr | legt nieder | you (pl.) lay down |
| sie/Sie | legen nieder | they lay down |
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 | legte nieder | I laid down |
| du | legtest nieder | you laid down |
| er/sie/es | legte nieder | he/she/it laid down |
| wir | legten nieder | we laid down |
| ihr | legtet nieder | you (pl.) laid down |
| sie/Sie | legten nieder | they laid down |
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 niedergelegt | I have laid down |
| du | hast niedergelegt | you have laid down |
| er/sie/es | hat niedergelegt | he/she/it has laid down |
| wir | haben niedergelegt | we have laid down |
| ihr | habt niedergelegt | you (pl.) have laid down |
| sie/Sie | haben niedergelegt | they have laid down |
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 niedergelegt | I had laid down |
| du | hattest niedergelegt | you had laid down |
| er/sie/es | hatte niedergelegt | he/she/it had laid down |
| wir | hatten niedergelegt | we had laid down |
| ihr | hattet niedergelegt | you (pl.) had laid down |
| sie/Sie | hatten niedergelegt | they had laid down |
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 niederlegen | I will lay down |
| du | wirst niederlegen | you will lay down |
| er/sie/es | wird niederlegen | he/she/it will lay down |
| wir | werden niederlegen | we will lay down |
| ihr | werdet niederlegen | you (pl.) will lay down |
| sie/Sie | werden niederlegen | they will lay down |
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 niedergelegt haben | I will have laid down |
| du | wirst niedergelegt haben | you will have laid down |
| er/sie/es | wird niedergelegt haben | he/she/it will have laid down |
| wir | werden niedergelegt haben | we will have laid down |
| ihr | werdet niedergelegt haben | you (pl.) will have laid down |
| sie/Sie | werden niedergelegt haben | they will have laid down |
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 | legte nieder |
| du | legtest nieder |
| er/sie/es | legte nieder |
| wir | legten nieder |
| ihr | legtet nieder |
| sie/Sie | legten nieder |
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 | lege nieder |
| ihr | legt nieder |