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GERMAN VERB

erkennen

to recognise

  • #74 most used
  • Mixed verb
  • Past participle: erkannt

Conjugation

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

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

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

Simple past

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

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

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

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

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

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

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

How to use erkennen

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

  1. Present

    Ich erkenne dich kaum mit der neuen Frisur.

    I hardly recognise you with the new haircut.

  2. Simple past

    Sie erkannte mich sofort an der Stimme.

    She recognised me by my voice right away.

  3. Perfect

    Hast du den Fehler gleich erkannt?

    Did you spot the mistake right away?

  4. Future

    Du wirst das Haus am roten Dach erkennen.

    You'll recognise the house by its red roof.

  5. Conditional

    Ohne Brille würde ich dich nicht erkennen.

    Without glasses I wouldn't recognise you.

  6. Imperative

    Erkenn doch endlich, dass er dich mag.

    Realise at last that he likes you.

Good to know

  • Erkennen an is to recognise someone by something: Ich erkenne ihn an der Stimme.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: mixed verb.