vorangehen — German conjugation
to go ahead
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 | gehe voran | I go ahead |
| du | gehst voran | you go ahead |
| er/sie/es | geht voran | he/she/it goes ahead |
| wir | gehen voran | we go ahead |
| ihr | geht voran | you (pl.) go ahead |
| sie/Sie | gehen voran | they go ahead |
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 | ging voran | I went ahead |
| du | gingst voran | you went ahead |
| er/sie/es | ging voran | he/she/it went ahead |
| wir | gingen voran | we went ahead |
| ihr | gingt voran | you (pl.) went ahead |
| sie/Sie | gingen voran | they went ahead |
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 | bin vorangegangen | I have gone ahead |
| du | bist vorangegangen | you have gone ahead |
| er/sie/es | ist vorangegangen | he/she/it has gone ahead |
| wir | sind vorangegangen | we have gone ahead |
| ihr | seid vorangegangen | you (pl.) have gone ahead |
| sie/Sie | sind vorangegangen | they have gone ahead |
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 | war vorangegangen | I had gone ahead |
| du | warst vorangegangen | you had gone ahead |
| er/sie/es | war vorangegangen | he/she/it had gone ahead |
| wir | waren vorangegangen | we had gone ahead |
| ihr | wart vorangegangen | you (pl.) had gone ahead |
| sie/Sie | waren vorangegangen | they had gone ahead |
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 vorangehen | I will go ahead |
| du | wirst vorangehen | you will go ahead |
| er/sie/es | wird vorangehen | he/she/it will go ahead |
| wir | werden vorangehen | we will go ahead |
| ihr | werdet vorangehen | you (pl.) will go ahead |
| sie/Sie | werden vorangehen | they will go ahead |
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 vorangegangen sein | I will have gone ahead |
| du | wirst vorangegangen sein | you will have gone ahead |
| er/sie/es | wird vorangegangen sein | he/she/it will have gone ahead |
| wir | werden vorangegangen sein | we will have gone ahead |
| ihr | werdet vorangegangen sein | you (pl.) will have gone ahead |
| sie/Sie | werden vorangegangen sein | they will have gone ahead |
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 | ginge voran |
| du | gingest voran |
| er/sie/es | ginge voran |
| wir | gingen voran |
| ihr | ginget voran |
| sie/Sie | gingen voran |
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 | gehe voran |
| ihr | geht voran |