seufzen — German conjugation

to sigh

Frequency#881Regular

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
ichseufzeI sigh
duseufztyou sigh
er/sie/esseufzthe/she/it sighs
wirseufzenwe sigh
ihrseufztyou (pl.) sigh
sie/Sieseufzenthey sigh

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
ichseufzteI sighed
duseufztestyou sighed
er/sie/esseufztehe/she/it sighed
wirseufztenwe sighed
ihrseufztetyou (pl.) sighed
sie/Sieseufztenthey sighed

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 geseufztI have sighed
duhast geseufztyou have sighed
er/sie/eshat geseufzthe/she/it has sighed
wirhaben geseufztwe have sighed
ihrhabt geseufztyou (pl.) have sighed
sie/Siehaben geseufztthey have sighed

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 geseufztI had sighed
duhattest geseufztyou had sighed
er/sie/eshatte geseufzthe/she/it had sighed
wirhatten geseufztwe had sighed
ihrhattet geseufztyou (pl.) had sighed
sie/Siehatten geseufztthey had sighed

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 seufzenI will sigh
duwirst seufzenyou will sigh
er/sie/eswird seufzenhe/she/it will sigh
wirwerden seufzenwe will sigh
ihrwerdet seufzenyou (pl.) will sigh
sie/Siewerden seufzenthey will sigh

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

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
ichseufzte
duseufztest
er/sie/esseufzte
wirseufzten
ihrseufztet
sie/Sieseufzten

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
duseufze
ihrseufzt