schenken — German conjugation

to give (as a gift)

Frequency#199Regular

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichschenkeI give
duschenkstyou give
er/sie/esschenkthe/she/it gives
wirschenkenwe give
ihrschenktyou (pl.) give
sie/Sieschenkenthey give

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichschenkteI gave
duschenktestyou gave
er/sie/esschenktehe/she/it gave
wirschenktenwe gave
ihrschenktetyou (pl.) gave
sie/Sieschenktenthey gave

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhabe geschenktI have given
duhast geschenktyou have given
er/sie/eshat geschenkthe/she/it has given
wirhaben geschenktwe have given
ihrhabt geschenktyou (pl.) have given
sie/Siehaben geschenktthey have given

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhatte geschenktI had given
duhattest geschenktyou had given
er/sie/eshatte geschenkthe/she/it had given
wirhatten geschenktwe had given
ihrhattet geschenktyou (pl.) had given
sie/Siehatten geschenktthey had given

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde schenkenI will give
duwirst schenkenyou will give
er/sie/eswird schenkenhe/she/it will give
wirwerden schenkenwe will give
ihrwerdet schenkenyou (pl.) will give
sie/Siewerden schenkenthey will give

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde geschenkt habenI will have given
duwirst geschenkt habenyou will have given
er/sie/eswird geschenkt habenhe/she/it will have given
wirwerden geschenkt habenwe will have given
ihrwerdet geschenkt habenyou (pl.) will have given
sie/Siewerden geschenkt habenthey will have given

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?

PronounGerman
ichschenkte
duschenktest
er/sie/esschenkte
wirschenkten
ihrschenktet
sie/Sieschenkten

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.

PronounGerman
duschenke
ihrschenkt