zusehen — German conjugation
to watch
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 | sehe zu | I watch |
| du | siehst zu | you watch |
| er/sie/es | sieht zu | he/she/it watches |
| wir | sehen zu | we watch |
| ihr | seht zu | you (pl.) watch |
| sie/Sie | sehen zu | they watch |
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 | sah zu | I watched |
| du | sahst zu | you watched |
| er/sie/es | sah zu | he/she/it watched |
| wir | sahen zu | we watched |
| ihr | saht zu | you (pl.) watched |
| sie/Sie | sahen zu | they watched |
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 zugesehen | I have watched |
| du | hast zugesehen | you have watched |
| er/sie/es | hat zugesehen | he/she/it has watched |
| wir | haben zugesehen | we have watched |
| ihr | habt zugesehen | you (pl.) have watched |
| sie/Sie | haben zugesehen | they have watched |
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 zugesehen | I had watched |
| du | hattest zugesehen | you had watched |
| er/sie/es | hatte zugesehen | he/she/it had watched |
| wir | hatten zugesehen | we had watched |
| ihr | hattet zugesehen | you (pl.) had watched |
| sie/Sie | hatten zugesehen | they had watched |
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 zusehen | I will watch |
| du | wirst zusehen | you will watch |
| er/sie/es | wird zusehen | he/she/it will watch |
| wir | werden zusehen | we will watch |
| ihr | werdet zusehen | you (pl.) will watch |
| sie/Sie | werden zusehen | they will watch |
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 zugesehen haben | I will have watched |
| du | wirst zugesehen haben | you will have watched |
| er/sie/es | wird zugesehen haben | he/she/it will have watched |
| wir | werden zugesehen haben | we will have watched |
| ihr | werdet zugesehen haben | you (pl.) will have watched |
| sie/Sie | werden zugesehen haben | they will have watched |
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 | sähe zu |
| du | sähest zu |
| er/sie/es | sähe zu |
| wir | sähen zu |
| ihr | sähet zu |
| sie/Sie | sähen 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 | sieh zu |
| ihr | seht zu |