schalten — German conjugation
to switch, to change
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 | schalte | I switch |
| du | schaltest | you switch |
| er/sie/es | schaltet | he/she/it switches |
| wir | schalten | we switch |
| ihr | schaltet | you (pl.) switch |
| sie/Sie | schalten | they switch |
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 | schaltete | I switched |
| du | schaltetest | you switched |
| er/sie/es | schaltete | he/she/it switched |
| wir | schalteten | we switched |
| ihr | schaltetet | you (pl.) switched |
| sie/Sie | schalteten | they switched |
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 geschaltet | I have switched |
| du | hast geschaltet | you have switched |
| er/sie/es | hat geschaltet | he/she/it has switched |
| wir | haben geschaltet | we have switched |
| ihr | habt geschaltet | you (pl.) have switched |
| sie/Sie | haben geschaltet | they have switched |
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 geschaltet | I had switched |
| du | hattest geschaltet | you had switched |
| er/sie/es | hatte geschaltet | he/she/it had switched |
| wir | hatten geschaltet | we had switched |
| ihr | hattet geschaltet | you (pl.) had switched |
| sie/Sie | hatten geschaltet | they had switched |
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 schalten | I will switch |
| du | wirst schalten | you will switch |
| er/sie/es | wird schalten | he/she/it will switch |
| wir | werden schalten | we will switch |
| ihr | werdet schalten | you (pl.) will switch |
| sie/Sie | werden schalten | they will switch |
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 geschaltet haben | I will have switched |
| du | wirst geschaltet haben | you will have switched |
| er/sie/es | wird geschaltet haben | he/she/it will have switched |
| wir | werden geschaltet haben | we will have switched |
| ihr | werdet geschaltet haben | you (pl.) will have switched |
| sie/Sie | werden geschaltet haben | they will have switched |
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 | schaltete |
| du | schaltetest |
| er/sie/es | schaltete |
| wir | schalteten |
| ihr | schaltetet |
| sie/Sie | schalteten |
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 | schalte |
| ihr | schaltet |