scherzen — German conjugation
to joke
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 | scherze | I joke |
| du | scherzt | you joke |
| er/sie/es | scherzt | he/she/it jokes |
| wir | scherzen | we joke |
| ihr | scherzt | you (pl.) joke |
| sie/Sie | scherzen | they joke |
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 | scherzte | I joked |
| du | scherztest | you joked |
| er/sie/es | scherzte | he/she/it joked |
| wir | scherzten | we joked |
| ihr | scherztet | you (pl.) joked |
| sie/Sie | scherzten | they joked |
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 gescherzt | I have joked |
| du | hast gescherzt | you have joked |
| er/sie/es | hat gescherzt | he/she/it has joked |
| wir | haben gescherzt | we have joked |
| ihr | habt gescherzt | you (pl.) have joked |
| sie/Sie | haben gescherzt | they have joked |
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 gescherzt | I had joked |
| du | hattest gescherzt | you had joked |
| er/sie/es | hatte gescherzt | he/she/it had joked |
| wir | hatten gescherzt | we had joked |
| ihr | hattet gescherzt | you (pl.) had joked |
| sie/Sie | hatten gescherzt | they had joked |
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 scherzen | I will joke |
| du | wirst scherzen | you will joke |
| er/sie/es | wird scherzen | he/she/it will joke |
| wir | werden scherzen | we will joke |
| ihr | werdet scherzen | you (pl.) will joke |
| sie/Sie | werden scherzen | they will joke |
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 gescherzt haben | I will have joked |
| du | wirst gescherzt haben | you will have joked |
| er/sie/es | wird gescherzt haben | he/she/it will have joked |
| wir | werden gescherzt haben | we will have joked |
| ihr | werdet gescherzt haben | you (pl.) will have joked |
| sie/Sie | werden gescherzt haben | they will have joked |
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 | scherzte |
| du | scherztest |
| er/sie/es | scherzte |
| wir | scherzten |
| ihr | scherztet |
| sie/Sie | scherzten |
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 | scherze |
| ihr | scherzt |