zuschauen — German conjugation
to watch
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 | schaue zu | I watch |
| du | schaust zu | you watch |
| er/sie/es | schaut zu | he/she/it watches |
| wir | schauen zu | we watch |
| ihr | schaut zu | you (pl.) watch |
| sie/Sie | schauen zu | they watch |
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 | schaute zu | I watched |
| du | schautest zu | you watched |
| er/sie/es | schaute zu | he/she/it watched |
| wir | schauten zu | we watched |
| ihr | schautet zu | you (pl.) watched |
| sie/Sie | schauten zu | they watched |
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 zugeschaut | I have watched |
| du | hast zugeschaut | you have watched |
| er/sie/es | hat zugeschaut | he/she/it has watched |
| wir | haben zugeschaut | we have watched |
| ihr | habt zugeschaut | you (pl.) have watched |
| sie/Sie | haben zugeschaut | they have watched |
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 zugeschaut | I had watched |
| du | hattest zugeschaut | you had watched |
| er/sie/es | hatte zugeschaut | he/she/it had watched |
| wir | hatten zugeschaut | we had watched |
| ihr | hattet zugeschaut | you (pl.) had watched |
| sie/Sie | hatten zugeschaut | they had watched |
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 zuschauen | I will watch |
| du | wirst zuschauen | you will watch |
| er/sie/es | wird zuschauen | he/she/it will watch |
| wir | werden zuschauen | we will watch |
| ihr | werdet zuschauen | you (pl.) will watch |
| sie/Sie | werden zuschauen | they will watch |
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 zugeschaut haben | I will have watched |
| du | wirst zugeschaut haben | you will have watched |
| er/sie/es | wird zugeschaut haben | he/she/it will have watched |
| wir | werden zugeschaut haben | we will have watched |
| ihr | werdet zugeschaut haben | you (pl.) will have watched |
| sie/Sie | werden zugeschaut haben | they will have watched |
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 | schaute zu |
| du | schautest zu |
| er/sie/es | schaute zu |
| wir | schauten zu |
| ihr | schautet zu |
| sie/Sie | schauten 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 | schaue zu |
| ihr | schaut zu |