verfallen — German conjugation
to decay
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 | verfalle | I decay |
| du | verfällst | you decay |
| er/sie/es | verfällt | he/she/it decays |
| wir | verfallen | we decay |
| ihr | verfallt | you (pl.) decay |
| sie/Sie | verfallen | they decay |
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 | verfiel | I decayed |
| du | verfielst | you decayed |
| er/sie/es | verfiel | he/she/it decayed |
| wir | verfielen | we decayed |
| ihr | verfielt | you (pl.) decayed |
| sie/Sie | verfielen | they decayed |
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 verfallen | I have decayed |
| du | bist verfallen | you have decayed |
| er/sie/es | ist verfallen | he/she/it has decayed |
| wir | sind verfallen | we have decayed |
| ihr | seid verfallen | you (pl.) have decayed |
| sie/Sie | sind verfallen | they have decayed |
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 verfallen | I had decayed |
| du | warst verfallen | you had decayed |
| er/sie/es | war verfallen | he/she/it had decayed |
| wir | waren verfallen | we had decayed |
| ihr | wart verfallen | you (pl.) had decayed |
| sie/Sie | waren verfallen | they had decayed |
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 verfallen | I will decay |
| du | wirst verfallen | you will decay |
| er/sie/es | wird verfallen | he/she/it will decay |
| wir | werden verfallen | we will decay |
| ihr | werdet verfallen | you (pl.) will decay |
| sie/Sie | werden verfallen | they will decay |
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 verfallen sein | I will have decayed |
| du | wirst verfallen sein | you will have decayed |
| er/sie/es | wird verfallen sein | he/she/it will have decayed |
| wir | werden verfallen sein | we will have decayed |
| ihr | werdet verfallen sein | you (pl.) will have decayed |
| sie/Sie | werden verfallen sein | they will have decayed |
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 | verfiele |
| du | verfielest |
| er/sie/es | verfiele |
| wir | verfielen |
| ihr | verfielet |
| sie/Sie | verfielen |
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 | verfalle |
| ihr | verfallt |