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fluentbyear

GERMAN VERB

achten

to pay attention

  • #265 most used
  • Weak verb
  • Past participle: geachtet

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

  1. ich I pay attention
  2. du you pay attention
  3. er, sie, es he/she pays attention
  4. wir we pay attention
  5. ihr you all pay attention
  6. sie, Sie they pay attention

Simple past

Präteritum · the past of writing, and of sein, haben and the modals in speech

  1. ich I paid attention
  2. du you paid attention
  3. er, sie, es he/she paid attention
  4. wir we paid attention
  5. ihr you all paid attention
  6. sie, Sie they paid attention

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

  1. ich I have paid attention
  2. du you have paid attention
  3. er, sie, es he/she has paid attention
  4. wir we have paid attention
  5. ihr you all have paid attention
  6. sie, Sie they have paid attention

Future

Futur I · “werden”; in speech the present with “morgen” does the job

  1. ich I will pay attention
  2. du you will pay attention
  3. er, sie, es he/she will pay attention
  4. wir we will pay attention
  5. ihr you all will pay attention
  6. sie, Sie they will pay attention

Conditional

Konjunktiv II · “would”: “würde”, and “wäre”, “hätte”, “könnte”

  1. ich I would pay attention
  2. du you would pay attention
  3. er, sie, es he/she would pay attention
  4. wir we would pay attention
  5. ihr you all would pay attention
  6. sie, Sie they would pay attention

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

  1. du pay attention!
  2. ihr pay attention! (all of you)
  3. Sie pay attention! (formal)

How to use achten

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Ich achte beim Einkaufen auf den Preis.

    I watch the price when I shop.

  2. Simple past

    Er achtete nicht auf die rote Ampel.

    He didn't pay attention to the red light.

  3. Perfect

    Hast du auf die Uhrzeit geachtet?

    Did you keep an eye on the time?

  4. Future

    Ich werde in Zukunft mehr auf meine Gesundheit achten.

    In future I'll take more care of my health.

  5. Conditional

    Ich würde mehr auf die Rechtschreibung achten.

    I'd pay more attention to the spelling.

  6. Imperative

    Achtet auf die Stufe, sie ist hoch!

    Mind the step, it's high!

Good to know

  • "Achten auf" is paying attention to, watching out for; "achten" alone is respecting someone.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: weak verb.