pendeln — German conjugation
to commute (travel regularly between two places)
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 | pendele | I commute |
| du | pendelst | you commute |
| er/sie/es | pendelt | he/she/it commutes |
| wir | pendeln | we commute |
| ihr | pendelt | you (pl.) commute |
| sie/Sie | pendeln | they commute |
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 | pendelte | I commuted |
| du | pendeltest | you commuted |
| er/sie/es | pendelte | he/she/it commuted |
| wir | pendelten | we commuted |
| ihr | pendeltet | you (pl.) commuted |
| sie/Sie | pendelten | they commuted |
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 gependelt | I have commuted |
| du | hast gependelt | you have commuted |
| er/sie/es | hat gependelt | he/she/it has commuted |
| wir | haben gependelt | we have commuted |
| ihr | habt gependelt | you (pl.) have commuted |
| sie/Sie | haben gependelt | they have commuted |
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 gependelt | I had commuted |
| du | hattest gependelt | you had commuted |
| er/sie/es | hatte gependelt | he/she/it had commuted |
| wir | hatten gependelt | we had commuted |
| ihr | hattet gependelt | you (pl.) had commuted |
| sie/Sie | hatten gependelt | they had commuted |
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 pendeln | I will commute |
| du | wirst pendeln | you will commute |
| er/sie/es | wird pendeln | he/she/it will commute |
| wir | werden pendeln | we will commute |
| ihr | werdet pendeln | you (pl.) will commute |
| sie/Sie | werden pendeln | they will commute |
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 gependelt haben | I will have commuted |
| du | wirst gependelt haben | you will have commuted |
| er/sie/es | wird gependelt haben | he/she/it will have commuted |
| wir | werden gependelt haben | we will have commuted |
| ihr | werdet gependelt haben | you (pl.) will have commuted |
| sie/Sie | werden gependelt haben | they will have commuted |
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 | pendelte |
| du | pendeltest |
| er/sie/es | pendelte |
| wir | pendelten |
| ihr | pendeltet |
| sie/Sie | pendelten |
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 | pendele |
| ihr | pendelt |