widerspiegeln — German conjugation
to reflect
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 | spiegele wider | I reflect |
| du | spiegelst wider | you reflect |
| er/sie/es | spiegelt wider | he/she/it reflects |
| wir | spiegeln wider | we reflect |
| ihr | spiegelt wider | you (pl.) reflect |
| sie/Sie | spiegeln wider | they reflect |
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 | spiegelte wider | I reflected |
| du | spiegeltest wider | you reflected |
| er/sie/es | spiegelte wider | he/she/it reflected |
| wir | spiegelten wider | we reflected |
| ihr | spiegeltet wider | you (pl.) reflected |
| sie/Sie | spiegelten wider | they reflected |
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 widergespiegelt | I have reflected |
| du | hast widergespiegelt | you have reflected |
| er/sie/es | hat widergespiegelt | he/she/it has reflected |
| wir | haben widergespiegelt | we have reflected |
| ihr | habt widergespiegelt | you (pl.) have reflected |
| sie/Sie | haben widergespiegelt | they have reflected |
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 widergespiegelt | I had reflected |
| du | hattest widergespiegelt | you had reflected |
| er/sie/es | hatte widergespiegelt | he/she/it had reflected |
| wir | hatten widergespiegelt | we had reflected |
| ihr | hattet widergespiegelt | you (pl.) had reflected |
| sie/Sie | hatten widergespiegelt | they had reflected |
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 widerspiegeln | I will reflect |
| du | wirst widerspiegeln | you will reflect |
| er/sie/es | wird widerspiegeln | he/she/it will reflect |
| wir | werden widerspiegeln | we will reflect |
| ihr | werdet widerspiegeln | you (pl.) will reflect |
| sie/Sie | werden widerspiegeln | they will reflect |
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 widergespiegelt haben | I will have reflected |
| du | wirst widergespiegelt haben | you will have reflected |
| er/sie/es | wird widergespiegelt haben | he/she/it will have reflected |
| wir | werden widergespiegelt haben | we will have reflected |
| ihr | werdet widergespiegelt haben | you (pl.) will have reflected |
| sie/Sie | werden widergespiegelt haben | they will have reflected |
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 | spiegelte wider |
| du | spiegeltest wider |
| er/sie/es | spiegelte wider |
| wir | spiegelten wider |
| ihr | spiegeltet wider |
| sie/Sie | spiegelten wider |
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 | spiegele wider |
| ihr | spiegelt wider |