zahlen — German conjugation
to pay
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 | zahle | I pay |
| du | zahlst | you pay |
| er/sie/es | zahlt | he/she/it pays |
| wir | zahlen | we pay |
| ihr | zahlt | you (pl.) pay |
| sie/Sie | zahlen | they pay |
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 | zahlte | I paid |
| du | zahltest | you paid |
| er/sie/es | zahlte | he/she/it paid |
| wir | zahlten | we paid |
| ihr | zahltet | you (pl.) paid |
| sie/Sie | zahlten | they paid |
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 gezahlt | I have paid |
| du | hast gezahlt | you have paid |
| er/sie/es | hat gezahlt | he/she/it has paid |
| wir | haben gezahlt | we have paid |
| ihr | habt gezahlt | you (pl.) have paid |
| sie/Sie | haben gezahlt | they have paid |
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 gezahlt | I had paid |
| du | hattest gezahlt | you had paid |
| er/sie/es | hatte gezahlt | he/she/it had paid |
| wir | hatten gezahlt | we had paid |
| ihr | hattet gezahlt | you (pl.) had paid |
| sie/Sie | hatten gezahlt | they had paid |
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 zahlen | I will pay |
| du | wirst zahlen | you will pay |
| er/sie/es | wird zahlen | he/she/it will pay |
| wir | werden zahlen | we will pay |
| ihr | werdet zahlen | you (pl.) will pay |
| sie/Sie | werden zahlen | they will pay |
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 gezahlt haben | I will have paid |
| du | wirst gezahlt haben | you will have paid |
| er/sie/es | wird gezahlt haben | he/she/it will have paid |
| wir | werden gezahlt haben | we will have paid |
| ihr | werdet gezahlt haben | you (pl.) will have paid |
| sie/Sie | werden gezahlt haben | they will have paid |
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 | zahlte |
| du | zahltest |
| er/sie/es | zahlte |
| wir | zahlten |
| ihr | zahltet |
| sie/Sie | zahlten |
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 | zahle |
| ihr | zahlt |