zudecken — German conjugation
to cover
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 | decke zu | I cover |
| du | deckst zu | you cover |
| er/sie/es | deckt zu | he/she/it covers |
| wir | decken zu | we cover |
| ihr | deckt zu | you (pl.) cover |
| sie/Sie | decken zu | they cover |
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 | deckte zu | I covered |
| du | decktest zu | you covered |
| er/sie/es | deckte zu | he/she/it covered |
| wir | deckten zu | we covered |
| ihr | decktet zu | you (pl.) covered |
| sie/Sie | deckten zu | they covered |
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 zugedeckt | I have covered |
| du | hast zugedeckt | you have covered |
| er/sie/es | hat zugedeckt | he/she/it has covered |
| wir | haben zugedeckt | we have covered |
| ihr | habt zugedeckt | you (pl.) have covered |
| sie/Sie | haben zugedeckt | they have covered |
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 zugedeckt | I had covered |
| du | hattest zugedeckt | you had covered |
| er/sie/es | hatte zugedeckt | he/she/it had covered |
| wir | hatten zugedeckt | we had covered |
| ihr | hattet zugedeckt | you (pl.) had covered |
| sie/Sie | hatten zugedeckt | they had covered |
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 zudecken | I will cover |
| du | wirst zudecken | you will cover |
| er/sie/es | wird zudecken | he/she/it will cover |
| wir | werden zudecken | we will cover |
| ihr | werdet zudecken | you (pl.) will cover |
| sie/Sie | werden zudecken | they will cover |
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 zugedeckt haben | I will have covered |
| du | wirst zugedeckt haben | you will have covered |
| er/sie/es | wird zugedeckt haben | he/she/it will have covered |
| wir | werden zugedeckt haben | we will have covered |
| ihr | werdet zugedeckt haben | you (pl.) will have covered |
| sie/Sie | werden zugedeckt haben | they will have covered |
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 | deckte zu |
| du | decktest zu |
| er/sie/es | deckte zu |
| wir | deckten zu |
| ihr | decktet zu |
| sie/Sie | deckten zu |
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 | decke zu |
| ihr | deckt zu |