schweigen — German conjugation
to be silent
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 | schweige | I am silent |
| du | schweigst | you are silent |
| er/sie/es | schweigt | he/she/it is silent |
| wir | schweigen | we are silent |
| ihr | schweigt | you (pl.) are silent |
| sie/Sie | schweigen | they are silent |
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 | schwieg | I was silent |
| du | schwiegst | you were silent |
| er/sie/es | schwieg | he/she/it was silent |
| wir | schwiegen | we were silent |
| ihr | schwiegt | you (pl.) were silent |
| sie/Sie | schwiegen | they were silent |
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 | habe geschwiegen | I have been silent |
| du | hast geschwiegen | you have been silent |
| er/sie/es | hat geschwiegen | he/she/it has been silent |
| wir | haben geschwiegen | we have been silent |
| ihr | habt geschwiegen | you (pl.) have been silent |
| sie/Sie | haben geschwiegen | they have been silent |
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 | hatte geschwiegen | I had been silent |
| du | hattest geschwiegen | you had been silent |
| er/sie/es | hatte geschwiegen | he/she/it had been silent |
| wir | hatten geschwiegen | we had been silent |
| ihr | hattet geschwiegen | you (pl.) had been silent |
| sie/Sie | hatten geschwiegen | they had been silent |
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 schweigen | I will be silent |
| du | wirst schweigen | you will be silent |
| er/sie/es | wird schweigen | he/she/it will be silent |
| wir | werden schweigen | we will be silent |
| ihr | werdet schweigen | you (pl.) will be silent |
| sie/Sie | werden schweigen | they will be silent |
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 geschwiegen haben | I will have been silent |
| du | wirst geschwiegen haben | you will have been silent |
| er/sie/es | wird geschwiegen haben | he/she/it will have been silent |
| wir | werden geschwiegen haben | we will have been silent |
| ihr | werdet geschwiegen haben | you (pl.) will have been silent |
| sie/Sie | werden geschwiegen haben | they will have been silent |
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 | schwiege |
| du | schwiegest |
| er/sie/es | schwiege |
| wir | schwiegen |
| ihr | schwieget |
| sie/Sie | schwiegen |
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 | schweige |
| ihr | schweigt |