taugen — German conjugation
to be good 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 | tauge | I am good for |
| du | taugst | you are good for |
| er/sie/es | taugt | he/she/it is good for |
| wir | taugen | we are good for |
| ihr | taugt | you (pl.) are good for |
| sie/Sie | taugen | they are good for |
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 | taugte | I was good for |
| du | taugtest | you were good for |
| er/sie/es | taugte | he/she/it was good for |
| wir | taugten | we were good for |
| ihr | taugtet | you (pl.) were good for |
| sie/Sie | taugten | they were good for |
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 getaugt | I have been good for |
| du | hast getaugt | you have been good for |
| er/sie/es | hat getaugt | he/she/it has been good for |
| wir | haben getaugt | we have been good for |
| ihr | habt getaugt | you (pl.) have been good for |
| sie/Sie | haben getaugt | they have been good for |
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 getaugt | I had been good for |
| du | hattest getaugt | you had been good for |
| er/sie/es | hatte getaugt | he/she/it had been good for |
| wir | hatten getaugt | we had been good for |
| ihr | hattet getaugt | you (pl.) had been good for |
| sie/Sie | hatten getaugt | they had been good for |
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 taugen | I will be good for |
| du | wirst taugen | you will be good for |
| er/sie/es | wird taugen | he/she/it will be good for |
| wir | werden taugen | we will be good for |
| ihr | werdet taugen | you (pl.) will be good for |
| sie/Sie | werden taugen | they will be good for |
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 getaugt haben | I will have been good for |
| du | wirst getaugt haben | you will have been good for |
| er/sie/es | wird getaugt haben | he/she/it will have been good for |
| wir | werden getaugt haben | we will have been good for |
| ihr | werdet getaugt haben | you (pl.) will have been good for |
| sie/Sie | werden getaugt haben | they will have been good for |
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 | taugte |
| du | taugtest |
| er/sie/es | taugte |
| wir | taugten |
| ihr | taugtet |
| sie/Sie | taugten |
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 | tauge |
| ihr | taugt |