vernichten — German conjugation
to destroy; to ruin; to wreck
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Regular
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 | vernichte | I destroy |
| du | vernichtest | you destroy |
| er/sie/es | vernichtet | he/she/it destroys |
| wir | vernichten | we destroy |
| ihr | vernichtet | you (pl.) destroy |
| sie/Sie | vernichten | they destroy |
Simple past (Präteritum) Regular
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 | vernichtete | I destroyed |
| du | vernichtetest | you destroyed |
| er/sie/es | vernichtete | he/she/it destroyed |
| wir | vernichteten | we destroyed |
| ihr | vernichtetet | you (pl.) destroyed |
| sie/Sie | vernichteten | they destroyed |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Regular
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 vernichtet | I have destroyed |
| du | hast vernichtet | you have destroyed |
| er/sie/es | hat vernichtet | he/she/it has destroyed |
| wir | haben vernichtet | we have destroyed |
| ihr | habt vernichtet | you (pl.) have destroyed |
| sie/Sie | haben vernichtet | they have destroyed |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Regular
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 vernichtet | I had destroyed |
| du | hattest vernichtet | you had destroyed |
| er/sie/es | hatte vernichtet | he/she/it had destroyed |
| wir | hatten vernichtet | we had destroyed |
| ihr | hattet vernichtet | you (pl.) had destroyed |
| sie/Sie | hatten vernichtet | they had destroyed |
Future I (Futur I) Regular
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 vernichten | I will destroy |
| du | wirst vernichten | you will destroy |
| er/sie/es | wird vernichten | he/she/it will destroy |
| wir | werden vernichten | we will destroy |
| ihr | werdet vernichten | you (pl.) will destroy |
| sie/Sie | werden vernichten | they will destroy |
Future II (Futur II) Regular
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 vernichtet haben | I will have destroyed |
| du | wirst vernichtet haben | you will have destroyed |
| er/sie/es | wird vernichtet haben | he/she/it will have destroyed |
| wir | werden vernichtet haben | we will have destroyed |
| ihr | werdet vernichtet haben | you (pl.) will have destroyed |
| sie/Sie | werden vernichtet haben | they will have destroyed |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Regular
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 | vernichtete |
| du | vernichtetest |
| er/sie/es | vernichtete |
| wir | vernichteten |
| ihr | vernichtetet |
| sie/Sie | vernichteten |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Regular
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 | vernichte |
| ihr | vernichtet |