warten — German conjugation
to wait (for)
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Regular
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 | warte | I wait |
| du | wartest | you wait |
| er/sie/es | wartet | he/she/it waits |
| wir | warten | we wait |
| ihr | wartet | you (pl.) wait |
| sie/Sie | warten | they wait |
Simple past (Präteritum) Regular
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 | wartete | I waited |
| du | wartetest | you waited |
| er/sie/es | wartete | he/she/it waited |
| wir | warteten | we waited |
| ihr | wartetet | you (pl.) waited |
| sie/Sie | warteten | they waited |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Regular
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 gewartet | I have waited |
| du | hast gewartet | you have waited |
| er/sie/es | hat gewartet | he/she/it has waited |
| wir | haben gewartet | we have waited |
| ihr | habt gewartet | you (pl.) have waited |
| sie/Sie | haben gewartet | they have waited |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Regular
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 gewartet | I had waited |
| du | hattest gewartet | you had waited |
| er/sie/es | hatte gewartet | he/she/it had waited |
| wir | hatten gewartet | we had waited |
| ihr | hattet gewartet | you (pl.) had waited |
| sie/Sie | hatten gewartet | they had waited |
Future I (Futur I) Regular
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 warten | I will wait |
| du | wirst warten | you will wait |
| er/sie/es | wird warten | he/she/it will wait |
| wir | werden warten | we will wait |
| ihr | werdet warten | you (pl.) will wait |
| sie/Sie | werden warten | they will wait |
Future II (Futur II) Regular
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 gewartet haben | I will have waited |
| du | wirst gewartet haben | you will have waited |
| er/sie/es | wird gewartet haben | he/she/it will have waited |
| wir | werden gewartet haben | we will have waited |
| ihr | werdet gewartet haben | you (pl.) will have waited |
| sie/Sie | werden gewartet haben | they will have waited |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Regular
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 | wartete |
| du | wartetest |
| er/sie/es | wartete |
| wir | warteten |
| ihr | wartetet |
| sie/Sie | warteten |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Regular
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 | warte |
| ihr | wartet |