zunehmen — German conjugation
to increase
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 | nehme zu | I increase |
| du | nimmst zu | you increase |
| er/sie/es | nimmt zu | he/she/it increases |
| wir | nehmen zu | we increase |
| ihr | nehmt zu | you (pl.) increase |
| sie/Sie | nehmen zu | they increase |
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 | nahm zu | I increased |
| du | nahmst zu | you increased |
| er/sie/es | nahm zu | he/she/it increased |
| wir | nahmen zu | we increased |
| ihr | nahmt zu | you (pl.) increased |
| sie/Sie | nahmen zu | they increased |
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 zugenommen | I have increased |
| du | hast zugenommen | you have increased |
| er/sie/es | hat zugenommen | he/she/it has increased |
| wir | haben zugenommen | we have increased |
| ihr | habt zugenommen | you (pl.) have increased |
| sie/Sie | haben zugenommen | they have increased |
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 zugenommen | I had increased |
| du | hattest zugenommen | you had increased |
| er/sie/es | hatte zugenommen | he/she/it had increased |
| wir | hatten zugenommen | we had increased |
| ihr | hattet zugenommen | you (pl.) had increased |
| sie/Sie | hatten zugenommen | they had increased |
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 zunehmen | I will increase |
| du | wirst zunehmen | you will increase |
| er/sie/es | wird zunehmen | he/she/it will increase |
| wir | werden zunehmen | we will increase |
| ihr | werdet zunehmen | you (pl.) will increase |
| sie/Sie | werden zunehmen | they will increase |
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 zugenommen haben | I will have increased |
| du | wirst zugenommen haben | you will have increased |
| er/sie/es | wird zugenommen haben | he/she/it will have increased |
| wir | werden zugenommen haben | we will have increased |
| ihr | werdet zugenommen haben | you (pl.) will have increased |
| sie/Sie | werden zugenommen haben | they will have increased |
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 | nähme zu |
| du | nähmest zu |
| er/sie/es | nähme zu |
| wir | nähmen zu |
| ihr | nähmet zu |
| sie/Sie | nähmen zu |
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 | nimm zu |
| ihr | nehmt zu |