niederschmettern — German conjugation
to crush
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 | schmettere nieder | I crush |
| du | schmetterst nieder | you crush |
| er/sie/es | schmettert nieder | he/she/it crushes |
| wir | schmettern nieder | we crush |
| ihr | schmettert nieder | you (pl.) crush |
| sie/Sie | schmettern nieder | they crush |
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 | schmetterte nieder | I crushed |
| du | schmettertest nieder | you crushed |
| er/sie/es | schmetterte nieder | he/she/it crushed |
| wir | schmetterten nieder | we crushed |
| ihr | schmettertet nieder | you (pl.) crushed |
| sie/Sie | schmetterten nieder | they crushed |
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 niedergeschmettert | I have crushed |
| du | hast niedergeschmettert | you have crushed |
| er/sie/es | hat niedergeschmettert | he/she/it has crushed |
| wir | haben niedergeschmettert | we have crushed |
| ihr | habt niedergeschmettert | you (pl.) have crushed |
| sie/Sie | haben niedergeschmettert | they have crushed |
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 niedergeschmettert | I had crushed |
| du | hattest niedergeschmettert | you had crushed |
| er/sie/es | hatte niedergeschmettert | he/she/it had crushed |
| wir | hatten niedergeschmettert | we had crushed |
| ihr | hattet niedergeschmettert | you (pl.) had crushed |
| sie/Sie | hatten niedergeschmettert | they had crushed |
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 niederschmettern | I will crush |
| du | wirst niederschmettern | you will crush |
| er/sie/es | wird niederschmettern | he/she/it will crush |
| wir | werden niederschmettern | we will crush |
| ihr | werdet niederschmettern | you (pl.) will crush |
| sie/Sie | werden niederschmettern | they will crush |
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 niedergeschmettert haben | I will have crushed |
| du | wirst niedergeschmettert haben | you will have crushed |
| er/sie/es | wird niedergeschmettert haben | he/she/it will have crushed |
| wir | werden niedergeschmettert haben | we will have crushed |
| ihr | werdet niedergeschmettert haben | you (pl.) will have crushed |
| sie/Sie | werden niedergeschmettert haben | they will have crushed |
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 | schmetterte nieder |
| du | schmettertest nieder |
| er/sie/es | schmetterte nieder |
| wir | schmetterten nieder |
| ihr | schmettertet nieder |
| sie/Sie | schmetterten 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 | schmettere nieder |
| ihr | schmettert nieder |