vergelten — German conjugation
to reward
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 | vergelte | I reward |
| du | vergiltst | you reward |
| er/sie/es | vergilt | he/she/it rewards |
| wir | vergelten | we reward |
| ihr | vergeltet | you (pl.) reward |
| sie/Sie | vergelten | they reward |
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 | vergalt | I rewarded |
| du | vergaltest | you rewarded |
| er/sie/es | vergalt | he/she/it rewarded |
| wir | vergalten | we rewarded |
| ihr | vergaltet | you (pl.) rewarded |
| sie/Sie | vergalten | they rewarded |
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 vergolten | I have rewarded |
| du | hast vergolten | you have rewarded |
| er/sie/es | hat vergolten | he/she/it has rewarded |
| wir | haben vergolten | we have rewarded |
| ihr | habt vergolten | you (pl.) have rewarded |
| sie/Sie | haben vergolten | they have rewarded |
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 vergolten | I had rewarded |
| du | hattest vergolten | you had rewarded |
| er/sie/es | hatte vergolten | he/she/it had rewarded |
| wir | hatten vergolten | we had rewarded |
| ihr | hattet vergolten | you (pl.) had rewarded |
| sie/Sie | hatten vergolten | they had rewarded |
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 vergelten | I will reward |
| du | wirst vergelten | you will reward |
| er/sie/es | wird vergelten | he/she/it will reward |
| wir | werden vergelten | we will reward |
| ihr | werdet vergelten | you (pl.) will reward |
| sie/Sie | werden vergelten | they will reward |
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 vergolten haben | I will have rewarded |
| du | wirst vergolten haben | you will have rewarded |
| er/sie/es | wird vergolten haben | he/she/it will have rewarded |
| wir | werden vergolten haben | we will have rewarded |
| ihr | werdet vergolten haben | you (pl.) will have rewarded |
| sie/Sie | werden vergolten haben | they will have rewarded |
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 | vergälte |
| du | vergältest |
| er/sie/es | vergälte |
| wir | vergälten |
| ihr | vergältet |
| sie/Sie | vergälten |
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 | vergilt |
| ihr | vergeltet |