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fluentbyear

GERMAN VERB

ansprechen

to speak to, to address

  • #467 most used
  • Strong verb
  • Past participle: angesprochen

Conjugation

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

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

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

Simple past

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

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

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

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

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

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

  1. du speak to!
  2. ihr speak to! (all of you)
  3. Sie speak to! (formal)

How to use ansprechen

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

  1. Present

    Ich spreche den Chef morgen auf die Gehaltserhöhung an.

    I'll bring up the pay rise with the boss tomorrow.

  2. Simple past

    Ein Tourist sprach mich auf Englisch an.

    A tourist spoke to me in English.

  3. Perfect

    Hast du sie endlich angesprochen?

    Have you finally spoken to her?

  4. Future

    Ich werde das Problem beim Treffen ansprechen.

    I'll raise the problem at the meeting.

  5. Conditional

    Ich würde ihn einfach freundlich ansprechen.

    I'd just approach him in a friendly way.

  6. Imperative

    Sprich sie doch an, sie lächelt dich an!

    Go talk to her, she's smiling at you!

Good to know

  • Jemanden ansprechen takes a direct object: ich spreche ihn an. Ein Thema ansprechen is to raise a subject.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: strong verb.