zulächeln — German conjugation
to smile at
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 | lächele zu | I smile at |
| du | lächelst zu | you smile at |
| er/sie/es | lächelt zu | he/she/it smiles at |
| wir | lächeln zu | we smile at |
| ihr | lächelt zu | you (pl.) smile at |
| sie/Sie | lächeln zu | they smile at |
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 | lächelte zu | I smiled at |
| du | lächeltest zu | you smiled at |
| er/sie/es | lächelte zu | he/she/it smiled at |
| wir | lächelten zu | we smiled at |
| ihr | lächeltet zu | you (pl.) smiled at |
| sie/Sie | lächelten zu | they smiled at |
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 zugelächelt | I have smiled at |
| du | hast zugelächelt | you have smiled at |
| er/sie/es | hat zugelächelt | he/she/it has smiled at |
| wir | haben zugelächelt | we have smiled at |
| ihr | habt zugelächelt | you (pl.) have smiled at |
| sie/Sie | haben zugelächelt | they have smiled at |
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 zugelächelt | I had smiled at |
| du | hattest zugelächelt | you had smiled at |
| er/sie/es | hatte zugelächelt | he/she/it had smiled at |
| wir | hatten zugelächelt | we had smiled at |
| ihr | hattet zugelächelt | you (pl.) had smiled at |
| sie/Sie | hatten zugelächelt | they had smiled at |
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 zulächeln | I will smile at |
| du | wirst zulächeln | you will smile at |
| er/sie/es | wird zulächeln | he/she/it will smile at |
| wir | werden zulächeln | we will smile at |
| ihr | werdet zulächeln | you (pl.) will smile at |
| sie/Sie | werden zulächeln | they will smile at |
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 zugelächelt haben | I will have smiled at |
| du | wirst zugelächelt haben | you will have smiled at |
| er/sie/es | wird zugelächelt haben | he/she/it will have smiled at |
| wir | werden zugelächelt haben | we will have smiled at |
| ihr | werdet zugelächelt haben | you (pl.) will have smiled at |
| sie/Sie | werden zugelächelt haben | they will have smiled at |
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 | lächelte zu |
| du | lächeltest zu |
| er/sie/es | lächelte zu |
| wir | lächelten zu |
| ihr | lächeltet zu |
| sie/Sie | lächelten 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 | lächele zu |
| ihr | lächelt zu |