zerreißen — German conjugation
to tear apart
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 | zerreiße | I tear apart |
| du | zerreißt | you tear apart |
| er/sie/es | zerreißt | he/she/it tears apart |
| wir | zerreißen | we tear apart |
| ihr | zerreißt | you (pl.) tear apart |
| sie/Sie | zerreißen | they tear apart |
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 | zerriss | I tore apart |
| du | zerrissest | you tore apart |
| er/sie/es | zerriss | he/she/it tore apart |
| wir | zerrissen | we tore apart |
| ihr | zerrisst | you (pl.) tore apart |
| sie/Sie | zerrissen | they tore apart |
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 zerrissen | I have torn apart |
| du | hast zerrissen | you have torn apart |
| er/sie/es | hat zerrissen | he/she/it has torn apart |
| wir | haben zerrissen | we have torn apart |
| ihr | habt zerrissen | you (pl.) have torn apart |
| sie/Sie | haben zerrissen | they have torn apart |
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 zerrissen | I had torn apart |
| du | hattest zerrissen | you had torn apart |
| er/sie/es | hatte zerrissen | he/she/it had torn apart |
| wir | hatten zerrissen | we had torn apart |
| ihr | hattet zerrissen | you (pl.) had torn apart |
| sie/Sie | hatten zerrissen | they had torn apart |
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 zerreißen | I will tear apart |
| du | wirst zerreißen | you will tear apart |
| er/sie/es | wird zerreißen | he/she/it will tear apart |
| wir | werden zerreißen | we will tear apart |
| ihr | werdet zerreißen | you (pl.) will tear apart |
| sie/Sie | werden zerreißen | they will tear apart |
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 zerrissen haben | I will have torn apart |
| du | wirst zerrissen haben | you will have torn apart |
| er/sie/es | wird zerrissen haben | he/she/it will have torn apart |
| wir | werden zerrissen haben | we will have torn apart |
| ihr | werdet zerrissen haben | you (pl.) will have torn apart |
| sie/Sie | werden zerrissen haben | they will have torn apart |
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 | zerrisse |
| du | zerrissest |
| er/sie/es | zerrisse |
| wir | zerrissen |
| ihr | zerrisset |
| sie/Sie | zerrissen |
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 | zerreiße |
| ihr | zerreißt |