pflegen — German conjugation
to care for
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 | pflege | I care for |
| du | pflegst | you care for |
| er/sie/es | pflegt | he/she/it cares for |
| wir | pflegen | we care for |
| ihr | pflegt | you (pl.) care for |
| sie/Sie | pflegen | they care for |
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 | pflegte | I cared for |
| du | pflegtest | you cared for |
| er/sie/es | pflegte | he/she/it cared for |
| wir | pflegten | we cared for |
| ihr | pflegtet | you (pl.) cared for |
| sie/Sie | pflegten | they cared for |
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 gepflegt | I have cared for |
| du | hast gepflegt | you have cared for |
| er/sie/es | hat gepflegt | he/she/it has cared for |
| wir | haben gepflegt | we have cared for |
| ihr | habt gepflegt | you (pl.) have cared for |
| sie/Sie | haben gepflegt | they have cared for |
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 gepflegt | I had cared for |
| du | hattest gepflegt | you had cared for |
| er/sie/es | hatte gepflegt | he/she/it had cared for |
| wir | hatten gepflegt | we had cared for |
| ihr | hattet gepflegt | you (pl.) had cared for |
| sie/Sie | hatten gepflegt | they had cared for |
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 pflegen | I will care for |
| du | wirst pflegen | you will care for |
| er/sie/es | wird pflegen | he/she/it will care for |
| wir | werden pflegen | we will care for |
| ihr | werdet pflegen | you (pl.) will care for |
| sie/Sie | werden pflegen | they will care for |
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 gepflegt haben | I will have cared for |
| du | wirst gepflegt haben | you will have cared for |
| er/sie/es | wird gepflegt haben | he/she/it will have cared for |
| wir | werden gepflegt haben | we will have cared for |
| ihr | werdet gepflegt haben | you (pl.) will have cared for |
| sie/Sie | werden gepflegt haben | they will have cared for |
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 | pflegte |
| du | pflegtest |
| er/sie/es | pflegte |
| wir | pflegten |
| ihr | pflegtet |
| sie/Sie | pflegten |
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 | pflege |
| ihr | pflegt |