verspotten — German conjugation
to mock
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 | verspotte | I mock |
| du | verspottest | you mock |
| er/sie/es | verspottet | he/she/it mocks |
| wir | verspotten | we mock |
| ihr | verspottet | you (pl.) mock |
| sie/Sie | verspotten | they mock |
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 | verspottete | I mocked |
| du | verspottetest | you mocked |
| er/sie/es | verspottete | he/she/it mocked |
| wir | verspotteten | we mocked |
| ihr | verspottetet | you (pl.) mocked |
| sie/Sie | verspotteten | they mocked |
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 verspottet | I have mocked |
| du | hast verspottet | you have mocked |
| er/sie/es | hat verspottet | he/she/it has mocked |
| wir | haben verspottet | we have mocked |
| ihr | habt verspottet | you (pl.) have mocked |
| sie/Sie | haben verspottet | they have mocked |
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 verspottet | I had mocked |
| du | hattest verspottet | you had mocked |
| er/sie/es | hatte verspottet | he/she/it had mocked |
| wir | hatten verspottet | we had mocked |
| ihr | hattet verspottet | you (pl.) had mocked |
| sie/Sie | hatten verspottet | they had mocked |
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 verspotten | I will mock |
| du | wirst verspotten | you will mock |
| er/sie/es | wird verspotten | he/she/it will mock |
| wir | werden verspotten | we will mock |
| ihr | werdet verspotten | you (pl.) will mock |
| sie/Sie | werden verspotten | they will mock |
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 verspottet haben | I will have mocked |
| du | wirst verspottet haben | you will have mocked |
| er/sie/es | wird verspottet haben | he/she/it will have mocked |
| wir | werden verspottet haben | we will have mocked |
| ihr | werdet verspottet haben | you (pl.) will have mocked |
| sie/Sie | werden verspottet haben | they will have mocked |
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 | verspottete |
| du | verspottetest |
| er/sie/es | verspottete |
| wir | verspotteten |
| ihr | verspottetet |
| sie/Sie | verspotteten |
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 | verspotte |
| ihr | verspottet |