spinnen — German conjugation
to spin
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 | spinne | I spin |
| du | spinnst | you spin |
| er/sie/es | spinnt | he/she/it spins |
| wir | spinnen | we spin |
| ihr | spinnt | you (pl.) spin |
| sie/Sie | spinnen | they spin |
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 | spann | I spun |
| du | spannst | you spun |
| er/sie/es | spann | he/she/it spun |
| wir | spannen | we spun |
| ihr | spannt | you (pl.) spun |
| sie/Sie | spannen | they spun |
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 gesponnen | I have spun |
| du | hast gesponnen | you have spun |
| er/sie/es | hat gesponnen | he/she/it has spun |
| wir | haben gesponnen | we have spun |
| ihr | habt gesponnen | you (pl.) have spun |
| sie/Sie | haben gesponnen | they have spun |
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 gesponnen | I had spun |
| du | hattest gesponnen | you had spun |
| er/sie/es | hatte gesponnen | he/she/it had spun |
| wir | hatten gesponnen | we had spun |
| ihr | hattet gesponnen | you (pl.) had spun |
| sie/Sie | hatten gesponnen | they had spun |
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 spinnen | I will spin |
| du | wirst spinnen | you will spin |
| er/sie/es | wird spinnen | he/she/it will spin |
| wir | werden spinnen | we will spin |
| ihr | werdet spinnen | you (pl.) will spin |
| sie/Sie | werden spinnen | they will spin |
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 gesponnen haben | I will have spun |
| du | wirst gesponnen haben | you will have spun |
| er/sie/es | wird gesponnen haben | he/she/it will have spun |
| wir | werden gesponnen haben | we will have spun |
| ihr | werdet gesponnen haben | you (pl.) will have spun |
| sie/Sie | werden gesponnen haben | they will have spun |
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 | spänne |
| du | spännest |
| er/sie/es | spänne |
| wir | spännen |
| ihr | spännet |
| sie/Sie | spännen |
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 | spinne |
| ihr | spinnt |