suchen — German conjugation
to search, to look for
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | suche | I search |
| du | suchst | you search |
| er/sie/es | sucht | he/she/it searches |
| wir | suchen | we search |
| ihr | sucht | you (pl.) search |
| sie/Sie | suchen | they search |
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | suchte | I searched |
| du | suchtest | you searched |
| er/sie/es | suchte | he/she/it searched |
| wir | suchten | we searched |
| ihr | suchtet | you (pl.) searched |
| sie/Sie | suchten | they searched |
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | habe gesucht | I have searched |
| du | hast gesucht | you have searched |
| er/sie/es | hat gesucht | he/she/it has searched |
| wir | haben gesucht | we have searched |
| ihr | habt gesucht | you (pl.) have searched |
| sie/Sie | haben gesucht | they have searched |
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte gesucht | I had searched |
| du | hattest gesucht | you had searched |
| er/sie/es | hatte gesucht | he/she/it had searched |
| wir | hatten gesucht | we had searched |
| ihr | hattet gesucht | you (pl.) had searched |
| sie/Sie | hatten gesucht | they had searched |
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde suchen | I will search |
| du | wirst suchen | you will search |
| er/sie/es | wird suchen | he/she/it will search |
| wir | werden suchen | we will search |
| ihr | werdet suchen | you (pl.) will search |
| sie/Sie | werden suchen | they will search |
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.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde gesucht haben | I will have searched |
| du | wirst gesucht haben | you will have searched |
| er/sie/es | wird gesucht haben | he/she/it will have searched |
| wir | werden gesucht haben | we will have searched |
| ihr | werdet gesucht haben | you (pl.) will have searched |
| sie/Sie | werden gesucht haben | they will have searched |
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?
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| ich | suchte |
| du | suchtest |
| er/sie/es | suchte |
| wir | suchten |
| ihr | suchtet |
| sie/Sie | suchten |
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.
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| du | suche |
| ihr | sucht |