sausen — German conjugation
to whistle
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 | sause | I whistle |
| du | saust | you whistle |
| er/sie/es | saust | he/she/it whistles |
| wir | sausen | we whistle |
| ihr | saust | you (pl.) whistle |
| sie/Sie | sausen | they whistle |
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 | sauste | I whistled |
| du | saustest | you whistled |
| er/sie/es | sauste | he/she/it whistled |
| wir | sausten | we whistled |
| ihr | saustet | you (pl.) whistled |
| sie/Sie | sausten | they whistled |
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 | bin gesaust | I have whistled |
| du | bist gesaust | you have whistled |
| er/sie/es | ist gesaust | he/she/it has whistled |
| wir | sind gesaust | we have whistled |
| ihr | seid gesaust | you (pl.) have whistled |
| sie/Sie | sind gesaust | they have whistled |
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 | war gesaust | I had whistled |
| du | warst gesaust | you had whistled |
| er/sie/es | war gesaust | he/she/it had whistled |
| wir | waren gesaust | we had whistled |
| ihr | wart gesaust | you (pl.) had whistled |
| sie/Sie | waren gesaust | they had whistled |
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 sausen | I will whistle |
| du | wirst sausen | you will whistle |
| er/sie/es | wird sausen | he/she/it will whistle |
| wir | werden sausen | we will whistle |
| ihr | werdet sausen | you (pl.) will whistle |
| sie/Sie | werden sausen | they will whistle |
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 gesaust sein | I will have whistled |
| du | wirst gesaust sein | you will have whistled |
| er/sie/es | wird gesaust sein | he/she/it will have whistled |
| wir | werden gesaust sein | we will have whistled |
| ihr | werdet gesaust sein | you (pl.) will have whistled |
| sie/Sie | werden gesaust sein | they will have whistled |
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 | sauste |
| du | saustest |
| er/sie/es | sauste |
| wir | sausten |
| ihr | saustet |
| sie/Sie | sausten |
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 | sause |
| ihr | saust |