Skip to content
fluentbyear

GERMAN VERB

putzen

to clean

  • #240 most used
  • Weak verb
  • Past participle: geputzt

Conjugation

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

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

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

Simple past

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

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

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

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

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

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

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

How to use putzen

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

  1. Present

    Ich putze jeden Samstag das Bad.

    I clean the bathroom every Saturday.

  2. Simple past

    Er putzte die Fenster vor dem Besuch.

    He cleaned the windows before the visit.

  3. Perfect

    Hast du dir die Zähne geputzt?

    Have you brushed your teeth?

  4. Future

    Morgen werde ich die ganze Wohnung putzen.

    Tomorrow I'll clean the whole flat.

  5. Conditional

    Ich würde zuerst die Küche putzen.

    I'd clean the kitchen first.

  6. Imperative

    Putz dir bitte die Schuhe vor der Tür.

    Please clean your shoes by the door.

Good to know

  • Putzen is cleaning by scrubbing or wiping, windows, teeth, the flat: Zähne putzen.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: weak verb.