ziehen — German conjugation
to pull, to draw
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 | ziehe | I pull |
| du | ziehst | you pull |
| er/sie/es | zieht | he/she/it pulls |
| wir | ziehen | we pull |
| ihr | zieht | you (pl.) pull |
| sie/Sie | ziehen | they pull |
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 | zog | I pulled |
| du | zogst | you pulled |
| er/sie/es | zog | he/she/it pulled |
| wir | zogen | we pulled |
| ihr | zogt | you (pl.) pulled |
| sie/Sie | zogen | they pulled |
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 gezogen | I have pulled |
| du | hast gezogen | you have pulled |
| er/sie/es | hat gezogen | he/she/it has pulled |
| wir | haben gezogen | we have pulled |
| ihr | habt gezogen | you (pl.) have pulled |
| sie/Sie | haben gezogen | they have pulled |
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 gezogen | I had pulled |
| du | hattest gezogen | you had pulled |
| er/sie/es | hatte gezogen | he/she/it had pulled |
| wir | hatten gezogen | we had pulled |
| ihr | hattet gezogen | you (pl.) had pulled |
| sie/Sie | hatten gezogen | they had pulled |
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 ziehen | I will pull |
| du | wirst ziehen | you will pull |
| er/sie/es | wird ziehen | he/she/it will pull |
| wir | werden ziehen | we will pull |
| ihr | werdet ziehen | you (pl.) will pull |
| sie/Sie | werden ziehen | they will pull |
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 gezogen haben | I will have pulled |
| du | wirst gezogen haben | you will have pulled |
| er/sie/es | wird gezogen haben | he/she/it will have pulled |
| wir | werden gezogen haben | we will have pulled |
| ihr | werdet gezogen haben | you (pl.) will have pulled |
| sie/Sie | werden gezogen haben | they will have pulled |
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 | zöge |
| du | zögest |
| er/sie/es | zöge |
| wir | zögen |
| ihr | zöget |
| sie/Sie | zögen |
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 | ziehe |
| ihr | zieht |