trauen — German conjugation
to trust
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 | traue | I trust |
| du | traust | you trust |
| er/sie/es | traut | he/she/it trusts |
| wir | trauen | we trust |
| ihr | traut | you (pl.) trust |
| sie/Sie | trauen | they trust |
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 | traute | I trusted |
| du | trautest | you trusted |
| er/sie/es | traute | he/she/it trusted |
| wir | trauten | we trusted |
| ihr | trautet | you (pl.) trusted |
| sie/Sie | trauten | they trusted |
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 getraut | I have trusted |
| du | hast getraut | you have trusted |
| er/sie/es | hat getraut | he/she/it has trusted |
| wir | haben getraut | we have trusted |
| ihr | habt getraut | you (pl.) have trusted |
| sie/Sie | haben getraut | they have trusted |
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 getraut | I had trusted |
| du | hattest getraut | you had trusted |
| er/sie/es | hatte getraut | he/she/it had trusted |
| wir | hatten getraut | we had trusted |
| ihr | hattet getraut | you (pl.) had trusted |
| sie/Sie | hatten getraut | they had trusted |
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 trauen | I will trust |
| du | wirst trauen | you will trust |
| er/sie/es | wird trauen | he/she/it will trust |
| wir | werden trauen | we will trust |
| ihr | werdet trauen | you (pl.) will trust |
| sie/Sie | werden trauen | they will trust |
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 getraut haben | I will have trusted |
| du | wirst getraut haben | you will have trusted |
| er/sie/es | wird getraut haben | he/she/it will have trusted |
| wir | werden getraut haben | we will have trusted |
| ihr | werdet getraut haben | you (pl.) will have trusted |
| sie/Sie | werden getraut haben | they will have trusted |
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 | traute |
| du | trautest |
| er/sie/es | traute |
| wir | trauten |
| ihr | trautet |
| sie/Sie | trauten |
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 | traue |
| ihr | traut |