zumachen — German conjugation
to close
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 | mache zu | I close |
| du | machst zu | you close |
| er/sie/es | macht zu | he/she/it closes |
| wir | machen zu | we close |
| ihr | macht zu | you (pl.) close |
| sie/Sie | machen zu | they close |
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 | machte zu | I closed |
| du | machtest zu | you closed |
| er/sie/es | machte zu | he/she/it closed |
| wir | machten zu | we closed |
| ihr | machtet zu | you (pl.) closed |
| sie/Sie | machten zu | they closed |
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 zugemacht | I have closed |
| du | hast zugemacht | you have closed |
| er/sie/es | hat zugemacht | he/she/it has closed |
| wir | haben zugemacht | we have closed |
| ihr | habt zugemacht | you (pl.) have closed |
| sie/Sie | haben zugemacht | they have closed |
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 zugemacht | I had closed |
| du | hattest zugemacht | you had closed |
| er/sie/es | hatte zugemacht | he/she/it had closed |
| wir | hatten zugemacht | we had closed |
| ihr | hattet zugemacht | you (pl.) had closed |
| sie/Sie | hatten zugemacht | they had closed |
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 zumachen | I will close |
| du | wirst zumachen | you will close |
| er/sie/es | wird zumachen | he/she/it will close |
| wir | werden zumachen | we will close |
| ihr | werdet zumachen | you (pl.) will close |
| sie/Sie | werden zumachen | they will close |
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 zugemacht haben | I will have closed |
| du | wirst zugemacht haben | you will have closed |
| er/sie/es | wird zugemacht haben | he/she/it will have closed |
| wir | werden zugemacht haben | we will have closed |
| ihr | werdet zugemacht haben | you (pl.) will have closed |
| sie/Sie | werden zugemacht haben | they will have closed |
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 | machte zu |
| du | machtest zu |
| er/sie/es | machte zu |
| wir | machten zu |
| ihr | machtet zu |
| sie/Sie | machten 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 | mache zu |
| ihr | macht zu |