umschalten — German conjugation
to switch
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 | schalte um | I switch |
| du | schaltest um | you switch |
| er/sie/es | schaltet um | he/she/it switches |
| wir | schalten um | we switch |
| ihr | schaltet um | you (pl.) switch |
| sie/Sie | schalten um | they switch |
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 | schaltete um | I switched |
| du | schaltetest um | you switched |
| er/sie/es | schaltete um | he/she/it switched |
| wir | schalteten um | we switched |
| ihr | schaltetet um | you (pl.) switched |
| sie/Sie | schalteten um | they switched |
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 umgeschaltet | I have switched |
| du | hast umgeschaltet | you have switched |
| er/sie/es | hat umgeschaltet | he/she/it has switched |
| wir | haben umgeschaltet | we have switched |
| ihr | habt umgeschaltet | you (pl.) have switched |
| sie/Sie | haben umgeschaltet | they have switched |
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 umgeschaltet | I had switched |
| du | hattest umgeschaltet | you had switched |
| er/sie/es | hatte umgeschaltet | he/she/it had switched |
| wir | hatten umgeschaltet | we had switched |
| ihr | hattet umgeschaltet | you (pl.) had switched |
| sie/Sie | hatten umgeschaltet | they had switched |
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 umschalten | I will switch |
| du | wirst umschalten | you will switch |
| er/sie/es | wird umschalten | he/she/it will switch |
| wir | werden umschalten | we will switch |
| ihr | werdet umschalten | you (pl.) will switch |
| sie/Sie | werden umschalten | they will switch |
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 umgeschaltet haben | I will have switched |
| du | wirst umgeschaltet haben | you will have switched |
| er/sie/es | wird umgeschaltet haben | he/she/it will have switched |
| wir | werden umgeschaltet haben | we will have switched |
| ihr | werdet umgeschaltet haben | you (pl.) will have switched |
| sie/Sie | werden umgeschaltet haben | they will have switched |
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 | schaltete um |
| du | schaltetest um |
| er/sie/es | schaltete um |
| wir | schalteten um |
| ihr | schaltetet um |
| sie/Sie | schalteten um |
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 | schalte um |
| ihr | schaltet um |