verstehen — German conjugation
to understand
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 | verstehe | I understand |
| du | verstehst | you understand |
| er/sie/es | versteht | he/she/it understands |
| wir | verstehen | we understand |
| ihr | versteht | you (pl.) understand |
| sie/Sie | verstehen | they understand |
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 | verstand | I understood |
| du | verstandest | you understood |
| er/sie/es | verstand | he/she/it understood |
| wir | verstanden | we understood |
| ihr | verstandet | you (pl.) understood |
| sie/Sie | verstanden | they understood |
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 verstanden | I have understood |
| du | hast verstanden | you have understood |
| er/sie/es | hat verstanden | he/she/it has understood |
| wir | haben verstanden | we have understood |
| ihr | habt verstanden | you (pl.) have understood |
| sie/Sie | haben verstanden | they have understood |
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 verstanden | I had understood |
| du | hattest verstanden | you had understood |
| er/sie/es | hatte verstanden | he/she/it had understood |
| wir | hatten verstanden | we had understood |
| ihr | hattet verstanden | you (pl.) had understood |
| sie/Sie | hatten verstanden | they had understood |
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 verstehen | I will understand |
| du | wirst verstehen | you will understand |
| er/sie/es | wird verstehen | he/she/it will understand |
| wir | werden verstehen | we will understand |
| ihr | werdet verstehen | you (pl.) will understand |
| sie/Sie | werden verstehen | they will understand |
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 verstanden haben | I will have understood |
| du | wirst verstanden haben | you will have understood |
| er/sie/es | wird verstanden haben | he/she/it will have understood |
| wir | werden verstanden haben | we will have understood |
| ihr | werdet verstanden haben | you (pl.) will have understood |
| sie/Sie | werden verstanden haben | they will have understood |
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 | verstände |
| du | verständest |
| er/sie/es | verstände |
| wir | verständen |
| ihr | verständet |
| sie/Sie | verständen |
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 | verstehe |
| ihr | versteht |