tun — German conjugation
to do
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 | tue | I do |
| du | tust | you do |
| er/sie/es | tut | he/she/it does |
| wir | tuen | we do |
| ihr | tut | you (pl.) do |
| sie/Sie | tuen | they do |
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 | tat | I did |
| du | tatest | you did |
| er/sie/es | tat | he/she/it did |
| wir | taten | we did |
| ihr | tatet | you (pl.) did |
| sie/Sie | taten | they did |
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 getan | I have done |
| du | hast getan | you have done |
| er/sie/es | hat getan | he/she/it has done |
| wir | haben getan | we have done |
| ihr | habt getan | you (pl.) have done |
| sie/Sie | haben getan | they have done |
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 getan | I had done |
| du | hattest getan | you had done |
| er/sie/es | hatte getan | he/she/it had done |
| wir | hatten getan | we had done |
| ihr | hattet getan | you (pl.) had done |
| sie/Sie | hatten getan | they had done |
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 tun | I will do |
| du | wirst tun | you will do |
| er/sie/es | wird tun | he/she/it will do |
| wir | werden tun | we will do |
| ihr | werdet tun | you (pl.) will do |
| sie/Sie | werden tun | they will do |
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 getan haben | I will have done |
| du | wirst getan haben | you will have done |
| er/sie/es | wird getan haben | he/she/it will have done |
| wir | werden getan haben | we will have done |
| ihr | werdet getan haben | you (pl.) will have done |
| sie/Sie | werden getan haben | they will have done |
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 | täte |
| du | tätest |
| er/sie/es | täte |
| wir | täten |
| ihr | tätet |
| sie/Sie | täten |
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 | tue |
| ihr | tut |