rangehen — German conjugation
to approach
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Irregular
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 | gehe ran | I approach |
| du | gehst ran | you approach |
| er/sie/es | geht ran | he/she/it approaches |
| wir | gehen ran | we approach |
| ihr | geht ran | you (pl.) approach |
| sie/Sie | gehen ran | they approach |
Simple past (Präteritum) Irregular
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 | ging ran | I approached |
| du | gingst ran | you approached |
| er/sie/es | ging ran | he/she/it approached |
| wir | gingen ran | we approached |
| ihr | gingt ran | you (pl.) approached |
| sie/Sie | gingen ran | they approached |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Irregular
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 | bin rangegangen | I have approached |
| du | bist rangegangen | you have approached |
| er/sie/es | ist rangegangen | he/she/it has approached |
| wir | sind rangegangen | we have approached |
| ihr | seid rangegangen | you (pl.) have approached |
| sie/Sie | sind rangegangen | they have approached |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Irregular
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 | war rangegangen | I had approached |
| du | warst rangegangen | you had approached |
| er/sie/es | war rangegangen | he/she/it had approached |
| wir | waren rangegangen | we had approached |
| ihr | wart rangegangen | you (pl.) had approached |
| sie/Sie | waren rangegangen | they had approached |
Future I (Futur I) Irregular
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 rangehen | I will approach |
| du | wirst rangehen | you will approach |
| er/sie/es | wird rangehen | he/she/it will approach |
| wir | werden rangehen | we will approach |
| ihr | werdet rangehen | you (pl.) will approach |
| sie/Sie | werden rangehen | they will approach |
Future II (Futur II) Irregular
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 rangegangen sein | I will have approached |
| du | wirst rangegangen sein | you will have approached |
| er/sie/es | wird rangegangen sein | he/she/it will have approached |
| wir | werden rangegangen sein | we will have approached |
| ihr | werdet rangegangen sein | you (pl.) will have approached |
| sie/Sie | werden rangegangen sein | they will have approached |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Irregular
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 | ginge ran |
| du | gingest ran |
| er/sie/es | ginge ran |
| wir | gingen ran |
| ihr | ginget ran |
| sie/Sie | gingen ran |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Irregular
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 | geh ran |
| ihr | geht ran |