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GERMAN VERB

kaputtgehen

to break, to go wrong

  • #248 most used
  • Strong verb
  • Past participle: kaputtgegangen

Conjugation

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

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

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

Simple past

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

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

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

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

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

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

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

How to use kaputtgehen

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

  1. Present

    Billige Schuhe gehen schnell kaputt.

    Cheap shoes break quickly.

  2. Simple past

    Die Waschmaschine ging nach zwei Jahren kaputt.

    The washing machine broke after two years.

  3. Perfect

    Mein Handy ist schon wieder kaputtgegangen.

    My phone has broken yet again.

  4. Future

    Das Spielzeug wird in einer Woche kaputtgehen.

    That toy will break within a week.

  5. Conditional

    Ohne Hülle würde das Handy schnell kaputtgehen.

    Without a case the phone would break quickly.

  6. Imperative

    Geh bitte nicht kaputt, altes Auto!

    Please don't break down, old car!

Good to know

  • Kaputtgehen is when something breaks by itself; "kaputtmachen" is breaking it, on purpose or by accident.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: strong verb.