pensionieren — German conjugation
to retire
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 | pensioniere | I retire |
| du | pensionierst | you retire |
| er/sie/es | pensioniert | he/she/it retires |
| wir | pensionieren | we retire |
| ihr | pensioniert | you (pl.) retire |
| sie/Sie | pensionieren | they retire |
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 | pensionierte | I retired |
| du | pensioniertest | you retired |
| er/sie/es | pensionierte | he/she/it retired |
| wir | pensionierten | we retired |
| ihr | pensioniertet | you (pl.) retired |
| sie/Sie | pensionierten | they retired |
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 pensioniert | I have retired |
| du | hast pensioniert | you have retired |
| er/sie/es | hat pensioniert | he/she/it has retired |
| wir | haben pensioniert | we have retired |
| ihr | habt pensioniert | you (pl.) have retired |
| sie/Sie | haben pensioniert | they have retired |
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 pensioniert | I had retired |
| du | hattest pensioniert | you had retired |
| er/sie/es | hatte pensioniert | he/she/it had retired |
| wir | hatten pensioniert | we had retired |
| ihr | hattet pensioniert | you (pl.) had retired |
| sie/Sie | hatten pensioniert | they had retired |
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 pensionieren | I will retire |
| du | wirst pensionieren | you will retire |
| er/sie/es | wird pensionieren | he/she/it will retire |
| wir | werden pensionieren | we will retire |
| ihr | werdet pensionieren | you (pl.) will retire |
| sie/Sie | werden pensionieren | they will retire |
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 pensioniert haben | I will have retired |
| du | wirst pensioniert haben | you will have retired |
| er/sie/es | wird pensioniert haben | he/she/it will have retired |
| wir | werden pensioniert haben | we will have retired |
| ihr | werdet pensioniert haben | you (pl.) will have retired |
| sie/Sie | werden pensioniert haben | they will have retired |
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 | pensionierte |
| du | pensioniertest |
| er/sie/es | pensionierte |
| wir | pensionierten |
| ihr | pensioniertet |
| sie/Sie | pensionierten |
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 | pensioniere |
| ihr | pensioniert |