unterrichten — German conjugation
to teach, to school
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 | unterrichte | I teach |
| du | unterrichtest | you teach |
| er/sie/es | unterrichtet | he/she/it teaches |
| wir | unterrichten | we teach |
| ihr | unterrichtet | you (pl.) teach |
| sie/Sie | unterrichten | they teach |
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 | unterrichtete | I taught |
| du | unterrichtetest | you taught |
| er/sie/es | unterrichtete | he/she/it taught |
| wir | unterrichteten | we taught |
| ihr | unterrichtetet | you (pl.) taught |
| sie/Sie | unterrichteten | they taught |
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 unterrichtet | I have taught |
| du | hast unterrichtet | you have taught |
| er/sie/es | hat unterrichtet | he/she/it has taught |
| wir | haben unterrichtet | we have taught |
| ihr | habt unterrichtet | you (pl.) have taught |
| sie/Sie | haben unterrichtet | they have taught |
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 unterrichtet | I had taught |
| du | hattest unterrichtet | you had taught |
| er/sie/es | hatte unterrichtet | he/she/it had taught |
| wir | hatten unterrichtet | we had taught |
| ihr | hattet unterrichtet | you (pl.) had taught |
| sie/Sie | hatten unterrichtet | they had taught |
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 unterrichten | I will teach |
| du | wirst unterrichten | you will teach |
| er/sie/es | wird unterrichten | he/she/it will teach |
| wir | werden unterrichten | we will teach |
| ihr | werdet unterrichten | you (pl.) will teach |
| sie/Sie | werden unterrichten | they will teach |
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 unterrichtet haben | I will have taught |
| du | wirst unterrichtet haben | you will have taught |
| er/sie/es | wird unterrichtet haben | he/she/it will have taught |
| wir | werden unterrichtet haben | we will have taught |
| ihr | werdet unterrichtet haben | you (pl.) will have taught |
| sie/Sie | werden unterrichtet haben | they will have taught |
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 | unterrichtete |
| du | unterrichtetest |
| er/sie/es | unterrichtete |
| wir | unterrichteten |
| ihr | unterrichtetet |
| sie/Sie | unterrichteten |
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 | unterrichte |
| ihr | unterrichtet |