vorhalten — German conjugation
to hold against
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 | halte vor | I hold against |
| du | hältst vor | you hold against |
| er/sie/es | hält vor | he/she/it holds against |
| wir | halten vor | we hold against |
| ihr | haltet vor | you (pl.) hold against |
| sie/Sie | halten vor | they hold against |
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 | hielt vor | I held against |
| du | hieltest vor | you held against |
| er/sie/es | hielt vor | he/she/it held against |
| wir | hielten vor | we held against |
| ihr | hieltet vor | you (pl.) held against |
| sie/Sie | hielten vor | they held against |
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 vorgehalten | I have held against |
| du | hast vorgehalten | you have held against |
| er/sie/es | hat vorgehalten | he/she/it has held against |
| wir | haben vorgehalten | we have held against |
| ihr | habt vorgehalten | you (pl.) have held against |
| sie/Sie | haben vorgehalten | they have held against |
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 vorgehalten | I had held against |
| du | hattest vorgehalten | you had held against |
| er/sie/es | hatte vorgehalten | he/she/it had held against |
| wir | hatten vorgehalten | we had held against |
| ihr | hattet vorgehalten | you (pl.) had held against |
| sie/Sie | hatten vorgehalten | they had held against |
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 vorhalten | I will hold against |
| du | wirst vorhalten | you will hold against |
| er/sie/es | wird vorhalten | he/she/it will hold against |
| wir | werden vorhalten | we will hold against |
| ihr | werdet vorhalten | you (pl.) will hold against |
| sie/Sie | werden vorhalten | they will hold against |
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 vorgehalten haben | I will have held against |
| du | wirst vorgehalten haben | you will have held against |
| er/sie/es | wird vorgehalten haben | he/she/it will have held against |
| wir | werden vorgehalten haben | we will have held against |
| ihr | werdet vorgehalten haben | you (pl.) will have held against |
| sie/Sie | werden vorgehalten haben | they will have held against |
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 | hielte vor |
| du | hieltest vor |
| er/sie/es | hielte vor |
| wir | hielten vor |
| ihr | hieltet vor |
| sie/Sie | hielten 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 | halte vor |
| ihr | haltet vor |