vorkommen — German conjugation
to occur
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 | komme vor | I occur |
| du | kommst vor | you occur |
| er/sie/es | kommt vor | he/she/it occurs |
| wir | kommen vor | we occur |
| ihr | kommt vor | you (pl.) occur |
| sie/Sie | kommen vor | they occur |
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 | kam vor | I occurred |
| du | kamst vor | you occurred |
| er/sie/es | kam vor | he/she/it occurred |
| wir | kamen vor | we occurred |
| ihr | kamt vor | you (pl.) occurred |
| sie/Sie | kamen vor | they occurred |
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 vorgekommen | I have occurred |
| du | bist vorgekommen | you have occurred |
| er/sie/es | ist vorgekommen | he/she/it has occurred |
| wir | sind vorgekommen | we have occurred |
| ihr | seid vorgekommen | you (pl.) have occurred |
| sie/Sie | sind vorgekommen | they have occurred |
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 vorgekommen | I had occurred |
| du | warst vorgekommen | you had occurred |
| er/sie/es | war vorgekommen | he/she/it had occurred |
| wir | waren vorgekommen | we had occurred |
| ihr | wart vorgekommen | you (pl.) had occurred |
| sie/Sie | waren vorgekommen | they had occurred |
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 vorkommen | I will occur |
| du | wirst vorkommen | you will occur |
| er/sie/es | wird vorkommen | he/she/it will occur |
| wir | werden vorkommen | we will occur |
| ihr | werdet vorkommen | you (pl.) will occur |
| sie/Sie | werden vorkommen | they will occur |
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 vorgekommen sein | I will have occurred |
| du | wirst vorgekommen sein | you will have occurred |
| er/sie/es | wird vorgekommen sein | he/she/it will have occurred |
| wir | werden vorgekommen sein | we will have occurred |
| ihr | werdet vorgekommen sein | you (pl.) will have occurred |
| sie/Sie | werden vorgekommen sein | they will have occurred |
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 | käme vor |
| du | kämest vor |
| er/sie/es | käme vor |
| wir | kämen vor |
| ihr | kämet vor |
| sie/Sie | kämen 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 | komme vor |
| ihr | kommt vor |