vorgreifen — German conjugation
to anticipate
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 | greife vor | I anticipate |
| du | greifst vor | you anticipate |
| er/sie/es | greift vor | he/she/it anticipates |
| wir | greifen vor | we anticipate |
| ihr | greift vor | you (pl.) anticipate |
| sie/Sie | greifen vor | they anticipate |
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 | griff vor | I anticipated |
| du | griffst vor | you anticipated |
| er/sie/es | griff vor | he/she/it anticipated |
| wir | griffen vor | we anticipated |
| ihr | grifft vor | you (pl.) anticipated |
| sie/Sie | griffen vor | they anticipated |
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 vorgegriffen | I have anticipated |
| du | hast vorgegriffen | you have anticipated |
| er/sie/es | hat vorgegriffen | he/she/it has anticipated |
| wir | haben vorgegriffen | we have anticipated |
| ihr | habt vorgegriffen | you (pl.) have anticipated |
| sie/Sie | haben vorgegriffen | they have anticipated |
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 vorgegriffen | I had anticipated |
| du | hattest vorgegriffen | you had anticipated |
| er/sie/es | hatte vorgegriffen | he/she/it had anticipated |
| wir | hatten vorgegriffen | we had anticipated |
| ihr | hattet vorgegriffen | you (pl.) had anticipated |
| sie/Sie | hatten vorgegriffen | they had anticipated |
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 vorgreifen | I will anticipate |
| du | wirst vorgreifen | you will anticipate |
| er/sie/es | wird vorgreifen | he/she/it will anticipate |
| wir | werden vorgreifen | we will anticipate |
| ihr | werdet vorgreifen | you (pl.) will anticipate |
| sie/Sie | werden vorgreifen | they will anticipate |
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 vorgegriffen haben | I will have anticipated |
| du | wirst vorgegriffen haben | you will have anticipated |
| er/sie/es | wird vorgegriffen haben | he/she/it will have anticipated |
| wir | werden vorgegriffen haben | we will have anticipated |
| ihr | werdet vorgegriffen haben | you (pl.) will have anticipated |
| sie/Sie | werden vorgegriffen haben | they will have anticipated |
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 | griffe vor |
| du | griffest vor |
| er/sie/es | griffe vor |
| wir | griffen vor |
| ihr | griffet vor |
| sie/Sie | griffen vor |
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 | greife vor |
| ihr | greift vor |