verlassen — German conjugation

to leave

Frequency#244Irregular

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichverlasseI leave
duverlässtyou leave
er/sie/esverlässthe/she/it leaves
wirverlassenwe leave
ihrverlasstyou (pl.) leave
sie/Sieverlassenthey leave

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichverließI left
duverließestyou left
er/sie/esverließhe/she/it left
wirverließenwe left
ihrverließtyou (pl.) left
sie/Sieverließenthey left

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhabe verlassenI have left
duhast verlassenyou have left
er/sie/eshat verlassenhe/she/it has left
wirhaben verlassenwe have left
ihrhabt verlassenyou (pl.) have left
sie/Siehaben verlassenthey have left

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhatte verlassenI had left
duhattest verlassenyou had left
er/sie/eshatte verlassenhe/she/it had left
wirhatten verlassenwe had left
ihrhattet verlassenyou (pl.) had left
sie/Siehatten verlassenthey had left

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde verlassenI will leave
duwirst verlassenyou will leave
er/sie/eswird verlassenhe/she/it will leave
wirwerden verlassenwe will leave
ihrwerdet verlassenyou (pl.) will leave
sie/Siewerden verlassenthey will leave

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde verlassen habenI will have left
duwirst verlassen habenyou will have left
er/sie/eswird verlassen habenhe/she/it will have left
wirwerden verlassen habenwe will have left
ihrwerdet verlassen habenyou (pl.) will have left
sie/Siewerden verlassen habenthey will have left

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?

PronounGerman
ichverließe
duverließest
er/sie/esverließe
wirverließen
ihrverließet
sie/Sieverließen

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.

PronounGerman
duverlasse
ihrverlasst