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fluentbyear

GERMAN VERB

wirken

to seem; to have an effect

  • #432 most used
  • Weak verb
  • Past participle: gewirkt

Conjugation

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

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

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

Simple past

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

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

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

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

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

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

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

How to use wirken

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

  1. Present

    Du wirkst heute irgendwie müde.

    You seem somehow tired today.

  2. Simple past

    Die Tablette wirkte nach zwanzig Minuten.

    The tablet took effect after twenty minutes.

  3. Perfect

    Das Haus hat von außen viel kleiner gewirkt.

    The house looked much smaller from outside.

  4. Future

    Der Tee wird bald wirken, warte ab.

    The tea will take effect soon, just wait.

  5. Conditional

    In dem Anzug würdest du älter wirken.

    In that suit you'd look older.

  6. Imperative

    Wirk nicht so streng, die Kinder haben Angst.

    Don't come across so strict, the children are scared.

Good to know

  • Wirken is how someone comes across: Er wirkt müde. A medicine wirkt when it takes effect.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: weak verb.