vorbeifahren — German conjugation
to pass by
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 | fahre vorbei | I pass by |
| du | fährst vorbei | you pass by |
| er/sie/es | fährt vorbei | he/she/it passes by |
| wir | fahren vorbei | we pass by |
| ihr | fahrt vorbei | you (pl.) pass by |
| sie/Sie | fahren vorbei | they pass by |
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 | fuhr vorbei | I passed by |
| du | fuhrst vorbei | you passed by |
| er/sie/es | fuhr vorbei | he/she/it passed by |
| wir | fuhren vorbei | we passed by |
| ihr | fuhrt vorbei | you (pl.) passed by |
| sie/Sie | fuhren vorbei | they passed by |
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 vorbeigefahren | I have passed by |
| du | bist vorbeigefahren | you have passed by |
| er/sie/es | ist vorbeigefahren | he/she/it has passed by |
| wir | sind vorbeigefahren | we have passed by |
| ihr | seid vorbeigefahren | you (pl.) have passed by |
| sie/Sie | sind vorbeigefahren | they have passed by |
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 vorbeigefahren | I had passed by |
| du | warst vorbeigefahren | you had passed by |
| er/sie/es | war vorbeigefahren | he/she/it had passed by |
| wir | waren vorbeigefahren | we had passed by |
| ihr | wart vorbeigefahren | you (pl.) had passed by |
| sie/Sie | waren vorbeigefahren | they had passed by |
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 vorbeifahren | I will pass by |
| du | wirst vorbeifahren | you will pass by |
| er/sie/es | wird vorbeifahren | he/she/it will pass by |
| wir | werden vorbeifahren | we will pass by |
| ihr | werdet vorbeifahren | you (pl.) will pass by |
| sie/Sie | werden vorbeifahren | they will pass by |
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 vorbeigefahren sein | I will have passed by |
| du | wirst vorbeigefahren sein | you will have passed by |
| er/sie/es | wird vorbeigefahren sein | he/she/it will have passed by |
| wir | werden vorbeigefahren sein | we will have passed by |
| ihr | werdet vorbeigefahren sein | you (pl.) will have passed by |
| sie/Sie | werden vorbeigefahren sein | they will have passed by |
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 | führe vorbei |
| du | führest vorbei |
| er/sie/es | führe vorbei |
| wir | führen vorbei |
| ihr | führet vorbei |
| sie/Sie | führen vorbei |
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 | fahre vorbei |
| ihr | fahrt vorbei |