schwächen — German conjugation

to weaken

Frequency#480Regular

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
ichschwächeI weaken
duschwächstyou weaken
er/sie/esschwächthe/she/it weakens
wirschwächenwe weaken
ihrschwächtyou (pl.) weaken
sie/Sieschwächenthey weaken

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
ichschwächteI weakened
duschwächtestyou weakened
er/sie/esschwächtehe/she/it weakened
wirschwächtenwe weakened
ihrschwächtetyou (pl.) weakened
sie/Sieschwächtenthey weakened

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 geschwächtI have weakened
duhast geschwächtyou have weakened
er/sie/eshat geschwächthe/she/it has weakened
wirhaben geschwächtwe have weakened
ihrhabt geschwächtyou (pl.) have weakened
sie/Siehaben geschwächtthey have weakened

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 geschwächtI had weakened
duhattest geschwächtyou had weakened
er/sie/eshatte geschwächthe/she/it had weakened
wirhatten geschwächtwe had weakened
ihrhattet geschwächtyou (pl.) had weakened
sie/Siehatten geschwächtthey had weakened

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 schwächenI will weaken
duwirst schwächenyou will weaken
er/sie/eswird schwächenhe/she/it will weaken
wirwerden schwächenwe will weaken
ihrwerdet schwächenyou (pl.) will weaken
sie/Siewerden schwächenthey will weaken

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 geschwächt habenI will have weakened
duwirst geschwächt habenyou will have weakened
er/sie/eswird geschwächt habenhe/she/it will have weakened
wirwerden geschwächt habenwe will have weakened
ihrwerdet geschwächt habenyou (pl.) will have weakened
sie/Siewerden geschwächt habenthey will have weakened

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
ichschwächte
duschwächtest
er/sie/esschwächte
wirschwächten
ihrschwächtet
sie/Sieschwächten

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
duschwäche
ihrschwächt