sauber machen — German conjugation
to clean
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 | mache sauber | I clean |
| du | machst sauber | you clean |
| er/sie/es | macht sauber | he/she/it cleans |
| wir | machen sauber | we clean |
| ihr | macht sauber | you (pl.) clean |
| sie/Sie | machen sauber | they clean |
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 | machte sauber | I cleaned |
| du | machtest sauber | you cleaned |
| er/sie/es | machte sauber | he/she/it cleaned |
| wir | machten sauber | we cleaned |
| ihr | machtet sauber | you (pl.) cleaned |
| sie/Sie | machten sauber | they cleaned |
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 sauber gemacht | I have cleaned |
| du | hast sauber gemacht | you have cleaned |
| er/sie/es | hat sauber gemacht | he/she/it has cleaned |
| wir | haben sauber gemacht | we have cleaned |
| ihr | habt sauber gemacht | you (pl.) have cleaned |
| sie/Sie | haben sauber gemacht | they have cleaned |
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 sauber gemacht | I had cleaned |
| du | hattest sauber gemacht | you had cleaned |
| er/sie/es | hatte sauber gemacht | he/she/it had cleaned |
| wir | hatten sauber gemacht | we had cleaned |
| ihr | hattet sauber gemacht | you (pl.) had cleaned |
| sie/Sie | hatten sauber gemacht | they had cleaned |
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 sauber machen | I will clean |
| du | wirst sauber machen | you will clean |
| er/sie/es | wird sauber machen | he/she/it will clean |
| wir | werden sauber machen | we will clean |
| ihr | werdet sauber machen | you (pl.) will clean |
| sie/Sie | werden sauber machen | they will clean |
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 sauber gemacht haben | I will have cleaned |
| du | wirst sauber gemacht haben | you will have cleaned |
| er/sie/es | wird sauber gemacht haben | he/she/it will have cleaned |
| wir | werden sauber gemacht haben | we will have cleaned |
| ihr | werdet sauber gemacht haben | you (pl.) will have cleaned |
| sie/Sie | werden sauber gemacht haben | they will have cleaned |
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 | machte sauber |
| du | machtest sauber |
| er/sie/es | machte sauber |
| wir | machten sauber |
| ihr | machtet sauber |
| sie/Sie | machten sauber |
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 | mache sauber |
| ihr | macht sauber |