schmelzen — German conjugation
to melt
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Irregular
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 | schmelze | I melt |
| du | schmilzt | you melt |
| er/sie/es | schmilzt | he/she/it melts |
| wir | schmelzen | we melt |
| ihr | schmelzt | you (pl.) melt |
| sie/Sie | schmelzen | they melt |
Simple past (Präteritum) Irregular
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 | schmolz | I melted |
| du | schmolzest | you melted |
| er/sie/es | schmolz | he/she/it melted |
| wir | schmolzen | we melted |
| ihr | schmolzt | you (pl.) melted |
| sie/Sie | schmolzen | they melted |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Irregular
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 geschmolzen | I have melted |
| du | bist geschmolzen | you have melted |
| er/sie/es | ist geschmolzen | he/she/it has melted |
| wir | sind geschmolzen | we have melted |
| ihr | seid geschmolzen | you (pl.) have melted |
| sie/Sie | sind geschmolzen | they have melted |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Irregular
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 geschmolzen | I had melted |
| du | warst geschmolzen | you had melted |
| er/sie/es | war geschmolzen | he/she/it had melted |
| wir | waren geschmolzen | we had melted |
| ihr | wart geschmolzen | you (pl.) had melted |
| sie/Sie | waren geschmolzen | they had melted |
Future I (Futur I) Irregular
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 schmelzen | I will melt |
| du | wirst schmelzen | you will melt |
| er/sie/es | wird schmelzen | he/she/it will melt |
| wir | werden schmelzen | we will melt |
| ihr | werdet schmelzen | you (pl.) will melt |
| sie/Sie | werden schmelzen | they will melt |
Future II (Futur II) Irregular
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 geschmolzen sein | I will have melted |
| du | wirst geschmolzen sein | you will have melted |
| er/sie/es | wird geschmolzen sein | he/she/it will have melted |
| wir | werden geschmolzen sein | we will have melted |
| ihr | werdet geschmolzen sein | you (pl.) will have melted |
| sie/Sie | werden geschmolzen sein | they will have melted |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Irregular
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 | schmölze |
| du | schmölzest |
| er/sie/es | schmölze |
| wir | schmölzen |
| ihr | schmölzet |
| sie/Sie | schmölzen |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Irregular
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 | schmilz |
| ihr | schmelzt |