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GERMAN VERB

meckern

to complain, to grumble

  • #500 most used
  • Weak verb
  • Past participle: gemeckert

Conjugation

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

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

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

Simple past

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

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

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

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

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

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

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

How to use meckern

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

  1. Present

    Mein Nachbar meckert über alles und jeden.

    My neighbour grumbles about everything and everyone.

  2. Simple past

    Die Gäste meckerten den ganzen Abend über das Essen.

    The guests complained about the food all evening.

  3. Perfect

    Hat er wieder über das Wetter gemeckert?

    Was he grumbling about the weather again?

  4. Future

    Der Chef wird bestimmt wieder meckern.

    The boss will definitely grumble again.

  5. Conditional

    Ich würde nicht meckern, das Essen ist umsonst.

    I wouldn't complain, the food is free.

  6. Imperative

    Meckere nicht, hilf lieber mit.

    Don't grumble, help out instead.

Good to know

  • Meckern is everyday and a little rude; sich beschweren is the polite complaint.

Where you hear meckern

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

German · Fluency Level 1

  • Herr Krause meckert immer. Herr Krause always grumbles.
  • Gestern hat er wieder gemeckert. Yesterday he grumbled again.
  • Morgen meckert er sicher wieder. Tomorrow he'll surely grumble again.
11
Understatement

Fluency Level 1 · Kann man nicht meckern. Das merke ich mir.

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: weak verb.