vorliegen — German conjugation
to be present
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 | liege vor | I am present |
| du | liegst vor | you are present |
| er/sie/es | liegt vor | he/she/it is present |
| wir | liegen vor | we are present |
| ihr | liegt vor | you (pl.) are present |
| sie/Sie | liegen vor | they are present |
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 | lag vor | I was present |
| du | lagst vor | you were present |
| er/sie/es | lag vor | he/she/it was present |
| wir | lagen vor | we were present |
| ihr | lagt vor | you (pl.) were present |
| sie/Sie | lagen vor | they were present |
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 vorgelegen | I have been present |
| du | hast vorgelegen | you have been present |
| er/sie/es | hat vorgelegen | he/she/it has been present |
| wir | haben vorgelegen | we have been present |
| ihr | habt vorgelegen | you (pl.) have been present |
| sie/Sie | haben vorgelegen | they have been present |
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 vorgelegen | I had been present |
| du | hattest vorgelegen | you had been present |
| er/sie/es | hatte vorgelegen | he/she/it had been present |
| wir | hatten vorgelegen | we had been present |
| ihr | hattet vorgelegen | you (pl.) had been present |
| sie/Sie | hatten vorgelegen | they had been present |
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 vorliegen | I will be present |
| du | wirst vorliegen | you will be present |
| er/sie/es | wird vorliegen | he/she/it will be present |
| wir | werden vorliegen | we will be present |
| ihr | werdet vorliegen | you (pl.) will be present |
| sie/Sie | werden vorliegen | they will be present |
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 vorgelegen haben | I will have been present |
| du | wirst vorgelegen haben | you will have been present |
| er/sie/es | wird vorgelegen haben | he/she/it will have been present |
| wir | werden vorgelegen haben | we will have been present |
| ihr | werdet vorgelegen haben | you (pl.) will have been present |
| sie/Sie | werden vorgelegen haben | they will have been present |
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 | läge vor |
| du | lägest vor |
| er/sie/es | läge vor |
| wir | lägen vor |
| ihr | läget vor |
| sie/Sie | lägen 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 | liege vor |
| ihr | liegt vor |