Parameters

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Weak verbs

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For most weak verbs, it is unnecessary to specify any parameters. For example, for verwandeln (to transform), just write:

{{de-conj}}

which produces

Note that the module automatically recognizes that verbs in -eln need to be handled specially, and that verbs in ver- don't have the ge- prefix in the past participle.

You can also specify the verb explicitly, which is useful e.g. if you're invoking {{de-conj}} on a User:... or other test page:

{{de-conj|verwandeln}}

which has the same result as above, but works on any page.

If the verb has a separable prefix, write the verb with a . between the prefix and the main verb, e.g. for abzeichnen (to draw, to sketch), use:

{{de-conj|ab.zeichnen}}

which produces

Note that the module automatically recognizes the need to insert an extra e before certain endings for this particular verb (e.g. third person singular present zeichnet ab vs. verwandelt or macht auf without this extra e); correctly handles placing the separable prefix before or after the main verb depending on the form; and adds a third section for dependent-clause variants of finite forms.

Multiple separable prefixes can be handled, e.g. for wiedergutmachen (to repair, to make up for):

{{de-conj|wieder.gut.machen}}

which produces

If the separable prefix is written with a space after it, use an underscore (_) in place of a dot, e.g. for kennen lernen (to become acquainted with):

{{de-conj|kennen_lernen}}

which produces

Note that the module automatically generates the zu-infinitive form kennen zu lernen with a space after zu, whereas the alternative/older spelling kennenlernen (which would use {{de-conj|kennen.lernen}}) would have a zu-infinitive kennenzulernen.

Multiple underscores can be used, just as with multiple dots, and underscores can be combined with dots, as with fest einprogrammieren (to hard code (in software)):

{{de-conj|fest_ein.programmieren}}

Strong verbs

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For strong verbs, you must specify the principal parts; at minimum, the past tense and past participle, and also the present third-person singular and/or past subjunctive if they are unpredictable. For example, for rufen (to call, to shout), use this:

{{de-conj|rufen<rief,gerufen>}}

which produces

Here, neither the third-person singular nor past subjunctive need to be given, because they are derivable respectively from the infinitive and past tense.

For separable prefixes, use a . as above, e.g. for anrufen (to telephone):

{{de-conj|an.rufen<rief,gerufen>}}

Note that the separable prefix is only written once, and the forms inside of <...> are given without the prefix.

If there is an inseparable prefix, however, it must be repeated, e.g. for berufen (to appeal):

{{de-conj|berufen<berief,berufen>}}

If the past subjunctive has a different stem from the past tense, specify the first singular past subjunctive as the third principal part inside of angle brackets, e.g. for finden (to find), with first singular past subjunctive fände:

{{de-conj|finden<fand,gefunden,fände>}}

If the second and third singular present indicative have a different stem from the infinitive, specify the third singular present indicative before the past tense, separated by #, as for verlassen (to leave):

{{de-conj|verlassen<verlässt#verließ,verlassen>}}

Sometimes, you may need to specify both the third singular present indicative and the past subjunctive, as for sprechen (to speak):

{{de-conj|sprechen<spricht#sprach,gesprochen,spräche>}}

If the third singular present indicative ends in a -t that forms part of the stem, indicate this by placing a - after the form to indicate that it is a stem, as for raten (to advise, to guess), with third singular present rät (second singular present rätst not #räst):

{{de-conj|raten<rät-#riet,geraten>}}

Specifying the auxiliary

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Some verbs take sein as an auxiliary instead of or in addition to haben. An example is gehen, which takes sein, e.g. ich bin gegangen "I went/I have gone". To indicate this, write the word sein inside of angle brackets, as follows:

{{de-conj|gehen<ging,gegangen.sein>}}

which produces

Here, a . separates different indicators (specifications) inside of angle brackets; the principal parts function as one indicator, and the auxiliary as another.

To indicate that a weak verb takes sein, as with spazieren (to take a walk, to stroll), write as follows:

{{de-conj|<sein>}}

or alternatively

{{de-conj|spazieren<sein>}}

Here, because there is only one indicator inside of angle brackets, no separating . is needed.

If a verb can take either haben or sein, as with fahren (to go, to drive), specify them both, separated by a comma:

{{de-conj|fahren<fährt#fuhr,gefahren,führe.haben,sein>}}

which produces

Controlling whether ge- appears

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In weak verbs, the module tries to predict whether to include the ge- prefix in the past participle. Most of the time it gets it right, using the following algorithm:

  1. If the verb ends in -ieren with at least one preceding vowel, as in studieren or fotografieren, ge- is suppressed. (The "one preceding vowel" rule avoids firing on bieren, frieren, gieren, schmieren, stieren, zieren, etc.)
  2. If the verb begins with a recognizable inseparable prefix with at least one following vowel in the stem, ge- is suppressed.
  3. All other verbs get a ge- prefix by default.

Occasionally, this algorithm fails. For these cases, specify either +ge or -ge explicitly inside of angle brackets. For example, posaunen (to trumpet) does not have ge- but doesn't begin with a recognizable inseparable prefix or end in -ieren. Specify this verb as follows:

{{de-conj|<-ge>}}

Conversely, beamen (to beam (in science fiction or with a video projector)) does not begin with the inseparable prefix be- with a following vowel in the stem, and does require ge-. Specify this as follows:

{{de-conj|<+ge>}}

If a verb can go both ways, either taking or not taking ge-, specify both variants, e.g. for offenbaren (to reveal, to disclose), with past participle either offenbart or geoffenbart:

{{de-conj|<-ge,+ge>}}

As described above, a specification like -ge is an indicator. If you need to specify multiple indicators inside of angle brackets, separate them with a dot. A case that needs this is karriolen (to drive about), which needs both -ge and sein. Specify this as follows:

{{de-conj|<-ge.sein>}}

Controlling whether the -e- infix appears

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Some weak verbs, e.g. atmen (to breathe) and zeichnen (to draw), have an extra -e- in certain forms (du atmest, er atmet, ich atmete), and the bare imperative #atm is suppressed. Normally this is determined automatically:

  1. Verbs whose stem ends in a consonant other than r or l, followed by m or n, have the extra -e-. (Hence lernen (to learn) and filmen (to film) do not.)
  2. But verbs in a vowel + h + m/n (e.g. wohnen (to live), rühmen (to praise, to boast)) do not.
  3. Nor do verbs ending in -mmen or -nnen (e.g. stimmen (to tune), spannen (to stretch)).

This can be overridden using the einfix indicator to force the extra -e- to appear, or -einfix to force it not to appear. This can be used, for example, with knien (to kneel), which has second person singular du kniest (not #du knist):

{{de-conj|<einfix>}}

Some verbs borrowed from English, e.g. managen (to manage) and framen (to frame), can be conjugated either with or without the extra -e-. To specify this, use an alternation, as described below under #Alternative conjugations.

Long and short imperatives

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Most verbs have both a "long" imperative ending in -e and a "short" one not ending in -e. The exceptions are as follows:

  1. Verbs with a distinct third-person singular stem (e.g. treten (to step), third person singular er tritt) use that stem for the imperative, and have only the "short" variant: tritt! not #tritte!. Exception: If the third-person singular stem has an ä or ö in it (e.g. fahren (to go, to drive), er fährt; stoßen (to shove), er stößt), this stem is not used. Instead, the infinitive stem is used, and both "long" and "short" variants exist: fahr! or fahre!.
  2. Verbs with an -e- infix in the second and third person singular present (see #Controlling whether the -e- infix appears above) have only the "long" variant: atme! "breathe", zeichne! "draw", not #atm! or #zeichn!.
  3. Other verbs have both "long" and "short" variants.

For type (1) verbs with only the short imperative, you can force both long and short variants to appear using the indicator longimp. This is used, for example, with sehen (to see), which has third singular present er sieht and imperative either sieh! or siehe!:

{{de-conj|sehen<sieht#sah,gesehen,sähe.longimp>}}

For type (3) verbs with both the long and short imperative, you can suppress the long variant and force only the short one to appear using the indicator shortimp.

Irregular weak verbs

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Some verbs are conjugated in the past tense as weak verbs but have irregular forms. Examples are bringen (to bring) (past tense brachte) and andenken (to think about, to consider) (past tense dachte an). To specify e.g. the conjugation of andenken, use the following:

{{de-conj|an.denken<dachte,gedacht,dächte>}}

Note how the format is identical to that of strong verbs, specifying all the necessary principal parts. The module knows that this is a weak verb because the past tense ends in -te, whereas strong verbs have a past tense ending in something else (usually a consonant).

Irregular verbs

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A few verbs are irregular beyond the normal variation that can be handled by specifying the principal parts. These verbs are sein (to be), haben (to have), werden (to become) and tun (to do), along with their derivatives. For these verbs, use the indicator irreg. There is no need to specify any principal parts, as the module has special handling for these particular verbs. For example, for sein:

{{de-conj|<irreg.sein>}}

Here we specify only the indicators irreg (to indicate that the verb is irregular) and sein (to indicate the auxiliary).

Preterite-present verbs

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For preterite-present verbs such as können (to be able, can) and wissen (to know), use the indicator pretpres and specify the principal parts as normal. The main difference between these verbs and strong verbs is that what is normally the second and third person singular present stem is for these verbs used for the entire singular present, with endings reminiscent of strong verbs. For example, for können:

{{de-conj|können<pretpres.kann#konnte,gekonnt,könnte>}}

which produces

The only preterite-present verb with an imperative is wissen, whose imperative is handled specially by the module.

Multiple variant principal parts

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Some verbs have more than one possible past tense, past participle or past subjunctive. To indicate this, separate the variants with a colon. An example is heben, with past subjunctive either höbe or hübe:

{{de-conj|heben<hob,gehoben,höbe:hübe>}}

which produces

Another example is senden (to send), with past tense either sendete or sandte, and corresponding past participle either gesendet or gesandt:

{{de-conj|senden<sendete:sandte,gesendet:gesandt>}}

When multiple variants are possible, often not all of them are equally common. For example, schwimmen (to swim) normally has past tense schwamm and past subjunctive schwämme, but also has a rare past subjunctive schwömme and an archaic past tense schwomm, used up through the 19th century. This can be indicated using footnotes placed in brackets after the forms in question:

{{de-conj|schwimmen<schwamm:schwomm[archaic; used up through the 19th century],geschwommen,schwämme:schwömme[rare]>}}

which produces

Note how the footnotes are automatically capitalized and a final period added, and apply to all forms derived from the principal part in question. Note also that there is no problem using commas, periods, and even brackets or angle brackets inside of the footnote (as long as the brackets and angle brackets are properly paired). This allows you to insert links (including through the use of templates such as {{m}} that generate HTML) inside of footnotes.

You can footnote a given principal part even if it's the only one. For that matter, you can footnote the infinitive stem by placing the footnote as an indicator by itself. This is useful, for example, for the verb auserkiesen (to choose), where the infinitive and all forms derived from it are obsolete, while the past tense erkor aus and past participle auserkoren are merely archaic, seeing occasional use. Specify this as follows:

{{de-conj|aus.erkiesen<erkor[archaic],erkoren[archaic],erköre[archaic].[obsolete]>}}

which produces

Note here how the [obsolete] footnote hangs by itself; this effectively footnotes the infinitive.

You can also footnote auxiliaries as well +ge and -ge indicators. You might use this for offenbaren (to reveal, to disclose) like this:

{{de-conj|offenbaren<-ge[prescribed, more frequent],+ge[not uncommon]>}}

which produces

Here, the past participle offenbart is the prescribed form and is more common, but the alternative geoffenbart is also seen fairly often.

Alternative conjugations

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Some verbs have multiple possible conjugations. An example is auslöschen, which can be conjugated either weak or strong. To indicate such alternatives, place the different conjugations inside of double parentheses ((...)), separated by a comma. For example:

{{de-conj|((aus.löschen,aus.löschen<lischt#losch,geloschen,lösche>))}}

which produces

Note how the variants are merged so that redundant forms between the variants are eliminated.

Another situation that comes up occasionally where this syntax can be used is verbs whose prefix is either separable or inseparable. An example is obwalten (to prevail), whose present is either er obwalte (stress on the second syllable, past participle obwalten) or er walte ob (stress on the first syllable, past participle obgewalten). Specify this as follows:

{{de-conj|((obwalten<-ge>,ob.walten))}}

which produces

Another example where this syntax is useful is framen (to frame), which has forms without an extra -e- infix (er framt) and forms with it (er framet). See #Controlling whether the -e- infix appears above for information on this infix. This can be specified as follows:

{{de-conj|((framen,framen<einfix>))}}

or even just

{{de-conj|((,<einfix>))}}

A similar but more complex example is managen (to manage), where the forms with the -e- infix (er managet) are less common than the forms without it (er managt). This can be indicated using footnotes:

{{de-conj|((managen,managen<einfix.[less common].managete[less common],gemanaget[less common]:gemanaged[less common]>))}}

which produces

Here, we add an infinitive footnote (the first footnote, not attached to anything), as well as footnotes on the past tense and past participle, including two past participle variants (gemanaget and gemanaged). Note that, when deduplicating repeated forms, the footnotes (or lack thereof) come from the first form. This means that only the forms that differ between the two alternative conjugations get the footnotes, which is generally correct.

Third-person-only verbs

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Some verbs are conjugated only in the third person, either the singular only or only in the singular and plural. To indicate this, use only3s for verbs only conjugated in the third person singular (generally impersonal verbs), and only3sp for verbs only conjugated in the third person singular and plural. An example of the former is schwerfallen (to be difficult):

{{de-conj|schwer.fallen<fällt#fiel,gefallen.only3s>}}

which produces

An example of the latter is schiefgehen (to go wrong):

{{de-conj|schief.gehen<ging,gegangen.sein.only3sp>}}

Third-singular-only verbs change the pronoun from er to es, consistent with their predominantly or exclusively impersonal use, but verbs conjugated only in the third person singular and plural do not make this change, as they can take inanimate objects (including masculine and feminine ones) as subjects.

Conjoined verbs

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Conjoined verbs such as ausschneiden und einfügen (to cut and paste) can be conjugated by placing the appropriate angle-bracket specification after each verb. For example:

{{de-conj|aus.schneiden<schnitt,geschnitten> [[und]] ein.fügen<>}}

which produces

Unlike with single weak verbs, the angle brackets cannot be omitted here on einfügen.