schwerfallen — German conjugation
to be difficult
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 | falle schwer | I am difficult |
| du | fällst schwer | you are difficult |
| er/sie/es | fällt schwer | he/she/it is difficult |
| wir | fallen schwer | we are difficult |
| ihr | fallt schwer | you (pl.) are difficult |
| sie/Sie | fallen schwer | they are difficult |
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 | fiel schwer | I was difficult |
| du | fielst schwer | you were difficult |
| er/sie/es | fiel schwer | he/she/it was difficult |
| wir | fielen schwer | we were difficult |
| ihr | fielt schwer | you (pl.) were difficult |
| sie/Sie | fielen schwer | they were difficult |
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 schwergefallen | I have been difficult |
| du | bist schwergefallen | you have been difficult |
| er/sie/es | ist schwergefallen | he/she/it has been difficult |
| wir | sind schwergefallen | we have been difficult |
| ihr | seid schwergefallen | you (pl.) have been difficult |
| sie/Sie | sind schwergefallen | they have been difficult |
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 schwergefallen | I had been difficult |
| du | warst schwergefallen | you had been difficult |
| er/sie/es | war schwergefallen | he/she/it had been difficult |
| wir | waren schwergefallen | we had been difficult |
| ihr | wart schwergefallen | you (pl.) had been difficult |
| sie/Sie | waren schwergefallen | they had been difficult |
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 schwerfallen | I will be difficult |
| du | wirst schwerfallen | you will be difficult |
| er/sie/es | wird schwerfallen | he/she/it will be difficult |
| wir | werden schwerfallen | we will be difficult |
| ihr | werdet schwerfallen | you (pl.) will be difficult |
| sie/Sie | werden schwerfallen | they will be difficult |
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 schwergefallen sein | I will have been difficult |
| du | wirst schwergefallen sein | you will have been difficult |
| er/sie/es | wird schwergefallen sein | he/she/it will have been difficult |
| wir | werden schwergefallen sein | we will have been difficult |
| ihr | werdet schwergefallen sein | you (pl.) will have been difficult |
| sie/Sie | werden schwergefallen sein | they will have been difficult |
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 | fiele schwer |
| du | fielest schwer |
| er/sie/es | fiele schwer |
| wir | fielen schwer |
| ihr | fielet schwer |
| sie/Sie | fielen schwer |
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 | falle schwer |
| ihr | fallt schwer |