umsteigen — German conjugation
to change (trains/buses)
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 | steige um | I change |
| du | steigst um | you change |
| er/sie/es | steigt um | he/she/it changes |
| wir | steigen um | we change |
| ihr | steigt um | you (pl.) change |
| sie/Sie | steigen um | they change |
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 | stieg um | I changed |
| du | stiegst um | you changed |
| er/sie/es | stieg um | he/she/it changed |
| wir | stiegen um | we changed |
| ihr | stiegt um | you (pl.) changed |
| sie/Sie | stiegen um | they changed |
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 | bin umgestiegen | I have changed |
| du | bist umgestiegen | you have changed |
| er/sie/es | ist umgestiegen | he/she/it has changed |
| wir | sind umgestiegen | we have changed |
| ihr | seid umgestiegen | you (pl.) have changed |
| sie/Sie | sind umgestiegen | they have changed |
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 | war umgestiegen | I had changed |
| du | warst umgestiegen | you had changed |
| er/sie/es | war umgestiegen | he/she/it had changed |
| wir | waren umgestiegen | we had changed |
| ihr | wart umgestiegen | you (pl.) had changed |
| sie/Sie | waren umgestiegen | they had changed |
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 umsteigen | I will change |
| du | wirst umsteigen | you will change |
| er/sie/es | wird umsteigen | he/she/it will change |
| wir | werden umsteigen | we will change |
| ihr | werdet umsteigen | you (pl.) will change |
| sie/Sie | werden umsteigen | they will change |
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 umgestiegen sein | I will have changed |
| du | wirst umgestiegen sein | you will have changed |
| er/sie/es | wird umgestiegen sein | he/she/it will have changed |
| wir | werden umgestiegen sein | we will have changed |
| ihr | werdet umgestiegen sein | you (pl.) will have changed |
| sie/Sie | werden umgestiegen sein | they will have changed |
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 | stiege um |
| du | stiegest um |
| er/sie/es | stiege um |
| wir | stiegen um |
| ihr | stieget um |
| sie/Sie | stiegen um |
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 | steige um |
| ihr | steigt um |