verantworten — German conjugation
to be responsible for
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 | verantworte | I am responsible for |
| du | verantwortest | you are responsible for |
| er/sie/es | verantwortet | he/she/it is responsible for |
| wir | verantworten | we are responsible for |
| ihr | verantwortet | you (pl.) are responsible for |
| sie/Sie | verantworten | they are responsible for |
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 | verantwortete | I was responsible for |
| du | verantwortetest | you were responsible for |
| er/sie/es | verantwortete | he/she/it was responsible for |
| wir | verantworteten | we were responsible for |
| ihr | verantwortetet | you (pl.) were responsible for |
| sie/Sie | verantworteten | they were responsible for |
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 verantwortet | I have been responsible for |
| du | hast verantwortet | you have been responsible for |
| er/sie/es | hat verantwortet | he/she/it has been responsible for |
| wir | haben verantwortet | we have been responsible for |
| ihr | habt verantwortet | you (pl.) have been responsible for |
| sie/Sie | haben verantwortet | they have been responsible for |
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 verantwortet | I had been responsible for |
| du | hattest verantwortet | you had been responsible for |
| er/sie/es | hatte verantwortet | he/she/it had been responsible for |
| wir | hatten verantwortet | we had been responsible for |
| ihr | hattet verantwortet | you (pl.) had been responsible for |
| sie/Sie | hatten verantwortet | they had been responsible for |
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 verantworten | I will be responsible for |
| du | wirst verantworten | you will be responsible for |
| er/sie/es | wird verantworten | he/she/it will be responsible for |
| wir | werden verantworten | we will be responsible for |
| ihr | werdet verantworten | you (pl.) will be responsible for |
| sie/Sie | werden verantworten | they will be responsible for |
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 verantwortet haben | I will have been responsible for |
| du | wirst verantwortet haben | you will have been responsible for |
| er/sie/es | wird verantwortet haben | he/she/it will have been responsible for |
| wir | werden verantwortet haben | we will have been responsible for |
| ihr | werdet verantwortet haben | you (pl.) will have been responsible for |
| sie/Sie | werden verantwortet haben | they will have been responsible for |
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 | verantwortete |
| du | verantwortetest |
| er/sie/es | verantwortete |
| wir | verantworteten |
| ihr | verantwortetet |
| sie/Sie | verantworteten |
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 | verantworte |
| ihr | verantwortet |