vergleichen — German conjugation
to compare
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 | vergleiche | I compare |
| du | vergleichst | you compare |
| er/sie/es | vergleicht | he/she/it compares |
| wir | vergleichen | we compare |
| ihr | vergleicht | you (pl.) compare |
| sie/Sie | vergleichen | they compare |
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 | verglich | I compared |
| du | verglichst | you compared |
| er/sie/es | verglich | he/she/it compared |
| wir | verglichen | we compared |
| ihr | verglicht | you (pl.) compared |
| sie/Sie | verglichen | they compared |
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 verglichen | I have compared |
| du | hast verglichen | you have compared |
| er/sie/es | hat verglichen | he/she/it has compared |
| wir | haben verglichen | we have compared |
| ihr | habt verglichen | you (pl.) have compared |
| sie/Sie | haben verglichen | they have compared |
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 verglichen | I had compared |
| du | hattest verglichen | you had compared |
| er/sie/es | hatte verglichen | he/she/it had compared |
| wir | hatten verglichen | we had compared |
| ihr | hattet verglichen | you (pl.) had compared |
| sie/Sie | hatten verglichen | they had compared |
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 vergleichen | I will compare |
| du | wirst vergleichen | you will compare |
| er/sie/es | wird vergleichen | he/she/it will compare |
| wir | werden vergleichen | we will compare |
| ihr | werdet vergleichen | you (pl.) will compare |
| sie/Sie | werden vergleichen | they will compare |
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 verglichen haben | I will have compared |
| du | wirst verglichen haben | you will have compared |
| er/sie/es | wird verglichen haben | he/she/it will have compared |
| wir | werden verglichen haben | we will have compared |
| ihr | werdet verglichen haben | you (pl.) will have compared |
| sie/Sie | werden verglichen haben | they will have compared |
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 | vergliche |
| du | verglichest |
| er/sie/es | vergliche |
| wir | verglichen |
| ihr | verglichet |
| sie/Sie | verglichen |
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 | vergleiche |
| ihr | vergleicht |