sehen — German conjugation
to see
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 | sehe | I see |
| du | siehst | you see |
| er/sie/es | sieht | he/she/it sees |
| wir | sehen | we see |
| ihr | seht | you (pl.) see |
| sie/Sie | sehen | they see |
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 | sah | I saw |
| du | sahst | you saw |
| er/sie/es | sah | he/she/it saw |
| wir | sahen | we saw |
| ihr | saht | you (pl.) saw |
| sie/Sie | sahen | they saw |
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 gesehen | I have seen |
| du | hast gesehen | you have seen |
| er/sie/es | hat gesehen | he/she/it has seen |
| wir | haben gesehen | we have seen |
| ihr | habt gesehen | you (pl.) have seen |
| sie/Sie | haben gesehen | they have seen |
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 gesehen | I had seen |
| du | hattest gesehen | you had seen |
| er/sie/es | hatte gesehen | he/she/it had seen |
| wir | hatten gesehen | we had seen |
| ihr | hattet gesehen | you (pl.) had seen |
| sie/Sie | hatten gesehen | they had seen |
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 sehen | I will see |
| du | wirst sehen | you will see |
| er/sie/es | wird sehen | he/she/it will see |
| wir | werden sehen | we will see |
| ihr | werdet sehen | you (pl.) will see |
| sie/Sie | werden sehen | they will see |
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 gesehen haben | I will have seen |
| du | wirst gesehen haben | you will have seen |
| er/sie/es | wird gesehen haben | he/she/it will have seen |
| wir | werden gesehen haben | we will have seen |
| ihr | werdet gesehen haben | you (pl.) will have seen |
| sie/Sie | werden gesehen haben | they will have seen |
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 | sähe |
| du | sähest |
| er/sie/es | sähe |
| wir | sähen |
| ihr | sähet |
| sie/Sie | sähen |
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 | sieh |
| ihr | seht |