verbringen — German conjugation
to spend (time)
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 | verbringe | I spend |
| du | verbringst | you spend |
| er/sie/es | verbringt | he/she/it spends |
| wir | verbringen | we spend |
| ihr | verbringt | you (pl.) spend |
| sie/Sie | verbringen | they spend |
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 | verbrachte | I spent |
| du | verbrachtest | you spent |
| er/sie/es | verbrachte | he/she/it spent |
| wir | verbrachten | we spent |
| ihr | verbrachtet | you (pl.) spent |
| sie/Sie | verbrachten | they spent |
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 verbracht | I have spent |
| du | hast verbracht | you have spent |
| er/sie/es | hat verbracht | he/she/it has spent |
| wir | haben verbracht | we have spent |
| ihr | habt verbracht | you (pl.) have spent |
| sie/Sie | haben verbracht | they have spent |
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 verbracht | I had spent |
| du | hattest verbracht | you had spent |
| er/sie/es | hatte verbracht | he/she/it had spent |
| wir | hatten verbracht | we had spent |
| ihr | hattet verbracht | you (pl.) had spent |
| sie/Sie | hatten verbracht | they had spent |
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 verbringen | I will spend |
| du | wirst verbringen | you will spend |
| er/sie/es | wird verbringen | he/she/it will spend |
| wir | werden verbringen | we will spend |
| ihr | werdet verbringen | you (pl.) will spend |
| sie/Sie | werden verbringen | they will spend |
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 verbracht haben | I will have spent |
| du | wirst verbracht haben | you will have spent |
| er/sie/es | wird verbracht haben | he/she/it will have spent |
| wir | werden verbracht haben | we will have spent |
| ihr | werdet verbracht haben | you (pl.) will have spent |
| sie/Sie | werden verbracht haben | they will have spent |
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 | verbrächte |
| du | verbrächtest |
| er/sie/es | verbrächte |
| wir | verbrächten |
| ihr | verbrächtet |
| sie/Sie | verbrächten |
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 | verbringe |
| ihr | verbringt |