reiten — German conjugation
to ride; to do horseriding
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 | reite | I ride |
| du | reitest | you ride |
| er/sie/es | reitet | he/she/it rides |
| wir | reiten | we ride |
| ihr | reitet | you (pl.) ride |
| sie/Sie | reiten | they ride |
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 | ritt | I rode |
| du | rittest | you rode |
| er/sie/es | ritt | he/she/it rode |
| wir | ritten | we rode |
| ihr | rittet | you (pl.) rode |
| sie/Sie | ritten | they rode |
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 geritten | I have ridden |
| du | bist geritten | you have ridden |
| er/sie/es | ist geritten | he/she/it has ridden |
| wir | sind geritten | we have ridden |
| ihr | seid geritten | you (pl.) have ridden |
| sie/Sie | sind geritten | they have ridden |
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 geritten | I had ridden |
| du | warst geritten | you had ridden |
| er/sie/es | war geritten | he/she/it had ridden |
| wir | waren geritten | we had ridden |
| ihr | wart geritten | you (pl.) had ridden |
| sie/Sie | waren geritten | they had ridden |
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 reiten | I will ride |
| du | wirst reiten | you will ride |
| er/sie/es | wird reiten | he/she/it will ride |
| wir | werden reiten | we will ride |
| ihr | werdet reiten | you (pl.) will ride |
| sie/Sie | werden reiten | they will ride |
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 geritten sein | I will have ridden |
| du | wirst geritten sein | you will have ridden |
| er/sie/es | wird geritten sein | he/she/it will have ridden |
| wir | werden geritten sein | we will have ridden |
| ihr | werdet geritten sein | you (pl.) will have ridden |
| sie/Sie | werden geritten sein | they will have ridden |
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 | ritte |
| du | rittest |
| er/sie/es | ritte |
| wir | ritten |
| ihr | rittet |
| sie/Sie | ritten |
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 | reite |
| ihr | reitet |