Ankommen Conjugation in German

ankommen means “to arrive” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 342 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about arriving at nine o'clock in Berlin, and because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of ankommen — every tense, every person, both participles and the infinitive — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Ich komme um neun Uhr in Berlin an jeden Tag.” — “I arrive at nine o'clock in Berlin every day.”

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: ankommen
  • English: to arrive
  • Verb type: Irregular
  • Irregular in: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative
  • Pattern: strong
  • Separable: yes — the prefix an splits off in finite forms, as in komme an
  • Participle I: ankommend
  • Past participle (Partizip II): angekommen
  • Auxiliary: sein (all perfect tenses are formed with sein + the past participle)

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for ankommen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read ankommen in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.

Three things to remember about ankommen

  1. It is irregular in 4 tense(s): present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Learn those forms as a set rather than guessing them from the infinitive, because the regular pattern will not produce them.
  2. The perfect tenses use sein: the perfect is formed with sein in the present plus the past participle angekommen. The tables on this page give the participle in the uninflected form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
  3. Partizip I is ankommend and Partizip II is angekommen: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because Partizip I appears in adjectival uses and Partizip II appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for ankommen. Learn the present tense first, then the Perfekt and the preterite, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.

Present (Präsens)

Person Form
ich komme an
du kommst an
er/sie/es kommt an
wir kommen an
ihr kommt an
sie/Sie kommen an

The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With ankommen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. Note the separable prefix: in finite forms the prefix an goes to the end of the clause, as in komme an. For example: “Ich komme pünktlich am Bahnhof an jeden Tag.” — “I arrive on time at the station every day.”

Preterite (Präteritum)

Person Form
ich kam an
du kamst an
er/sie/es kam an
wir kamen an
ihr kamt an
sie/Sie kamen an

The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. With ankommen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. Note the separable prefix: in finite forms the prefix an goes to the end of the clause, as in kam an. For example: “Du kamst pünktlich am Bahnhof an gestern.” — “You arrived on time at the station yesterday.”

Perfect (Perfekt)

Person Form
ich bin angekommen
du bist angekommen
er/sie/es ist angekommen
wir sind angekommen
ihr seid angekommen
sie/Sie sind angekommen

The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er ist pünktlich am Bahnhof angekommen gestern.” — “He has arrived on time at the station yesterday.”

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

Person Form
ich war angekommen
du warst angekommen
er/sie/es war angekommen
wir waren angekommen
ihr wart angekommen
sie/Sie waren angekommen

The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir waren pünktlich am Bahnhof angekommen vor der Party.” — “We had arrived on time at the station before the party.”

Future (Futur I)

Person Form
ich werde ankommen
du wirst ankommen
er/sie/es wird ankommen
wir werden ankommen
ihr werdet ankommen
sie/Sie werden ankommen

The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde pünktlich am Bahnhof ankommen morgen.” — “I will arrive on time at the station tomorrow.”

Future perfect (Futur II)

Person Form
ich werde angekommen sein
du wirst angekommen sein
er/sie/es wird angekommen sein
wir werden angekommen sein
ihr werdet angekommen sein
sie/Sie werden angekommen sein

The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst pünktlich am Bahnhof angekommen sein bis morgen.” — “You will have arrived on time at the station by tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv I

Person Form
ich komme an
du kommest an
er/sie/es komme an
wir kommen an
ihr kommet an
sie/Sie kommen an

Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. Note the separable prefix: in finite forms the prefix an goes to the end of the clause, as in komme an. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er ankomme pünktlich am Bahnhof.” — “It is important that he arrive on time at the station.”

Konjunktiv II

Person Form
ich käme an
du kämest an
er/sie/es käme an
wir kämen an
ihr kämet an
sie/Sie kämen an

Konjunktiv II is used for wishes, hypothetical situations and polite requests. It doubles as the conditional: there is no separate würde tense in the tables, and the periphrastic alternative with würde plus the infinitive is a way of expressing the same meaning, not a tense of its own. Note the separable prefix: in finite forms the prefix an goes to the end of the clause, as in käme an. For example: “Ich käme pünktlich am Bahnhof an eines Tages.” — “I would arrive on time at the station one day.”

Conditional perfect

Person Form
ich wäre angekommen
du wärst angekommen
er/sie/es wäre angekommen
wir wären angekommen
ihr wärt angekommen
sie/Sie wären angekommen

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er wäre pünktlich am Bahnhof angekommen gestern.” — “He would have arrived on time at the station yesterday.”

Imperative

Person Form
du komm an
wir ankommen
ihr kommt an
sie ankommen

The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. With ankommen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. Note the separable prefix: in finite forms the prefix an goes to the end of the clause, as in komm an. For example: “Komm pünktlich am Bahnhof an!” — “Arrive on time at the station!”

Present participle (Partizip I)

Form German
Present participle ankommend

The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle ankommend describes something that is arriving. The present-tense sentence “Ich komme um neun Uhr in Berlin an jeden Tag.” — “I arrive at nine o'clock in Berlin every day.” shows the same verb in action.

Past participle (Partizip II)

Form German
Past participle angekommen

The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich bin um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.” — “I have arrived at nine o'clock in Berlin yesterday.”

Infinitive

Form German
Infinitive ankommen

The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive ankommen is the form you look up in a dictionary. In a sentence it appears after a modal verb or with zu, and in the future it follows werden, as in “Ich werde um neun Uhr in Berlin ankommen morgen.” — “I will arrive at nine o'clock in Berlin tomorrow.”

Example sentences

Ten natural sentences with ankommen, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.

  1. “Ich komme um neun Uhr in Berlin an jeden Tag.” — “I arrive at nine o'clock in Berlin every day.”
  2. “Du kamst pünktlich am Bahnhof an gestern.” — “You arrived on time at the station yesterday.”
  3. “Er ist am Abend zu Hause angekommen gestern.” — “He has arrived at home in the evening yesterday.”
  4. “Wir waren um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen vor der Party.” — “We had arrived at nine o'clock in Berlin before the party.”
  5. “Ich werde pünktlich am Bahnhof ankommen morgen.” — “I will arrive on time at the station tomorrow.”
  6. “Du wirst am Abend zu Hause angekommen sein bis morgen.” — “You will have arrived at home in the evening by tomorrow.”
  7. “Es ist wichtig, dass er ankomme um neun Uhr in Berlin.” — “It is important that he arrive at nine o'clock in Berlin.”
  8. “Ich käme pünktlich am Bahnhof an eines Tages.” — “I would arrive on time at the station one day.”
  9. “Er wäre am Abend zu Hause angekommen gestern.” — “He would have arrived at home in the evening yesterday.”
  10. “Komm um neun Uhr in Berlin an!” — “Arrive at nine o'clock in Berlin!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich ankommen um neun Uhr in Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Ich komme an um neun Uhr in Berlin.”

The infinitive ankommen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form komme an.

2. Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Ich kommen an um neun Uhr in Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Ich komme an um neun Uhr in Berlin.”

kommen an is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with komme an.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich komme an um neun Uhr in Berlin gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich bin um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.”

The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt bin angekommen, not the present.

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich komme an um neun Uhr in Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich ankomme um neun Uhr in Berlin.”

After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use ankomme here, not the indicative komme an.

5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich habe angekommen um neun Uhr in Berlin.”

✓ Right: “bin angekommen um neun Uhr in Berlin.”

The Perfekt of ankommen is formed with sein plus the past participle angekommen: the ich form is bin angekommen. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.

6. Keeping the separable prefix attached in a main clause

✗ Wrong: “Ich ankomme um neun Uhr in Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Ich komme um neun Uhr in Berlin an.”

ankommen is separable: in a main clause the prefix an goes to the end, so the ich form is komme an, not ankomme.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on ankommen. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the ich form of ankommen in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) komme an
    • B) kommst an
    • C) kommt an
    • D) kommen an

  2. What is the du form of ankommen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?

    • A) kamt an
    • B) kamst an
    • C) kam an
    • D) kamen an

  3. What is the er/sie/es form of ankommen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?

    • A) bist angekommen
    • B) sind angekommen
    • C) ist angekommen
    • D) bin angekommen

  4. What is the wir form of ankommen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?

    • A) wart angekommen
    • B) waren angekommen
    • C) war angekommen
    • D) warst angekommen

  5. What is the du form of ankommen in the Future (Futur I)?

    • A) werden ankommen
    • B) wirst ankommen
    • C) werde ankommen
    • D) wird ankommen

  6. What is the ich form of ankommen in the Future perfect (Futur II)?

    • A) werde angekommen sein
    • B) wirst angekommen sein
    • C) wird angekommen sein
    • D) werden angekommen sein

  7. What is the er/sie/es form of ankommen in the Konjunktiv I?

    • A) komme an
    • B) kommest an
    • C) kommen an
    • D) kommet an

  8. What is the ich form of ankommen in the Konjunktiv II?

    • A) käme an
    • B) kämest an
    • C) kämen an
    • D) kämet an

  9. What is the present participle (Partizip I) of ankommen?

    • A) einsteigend
    • B) aussteigend
    • C) ankommend
    • D) abfahrend

  10. What does ankommen mean in English?

  • A) to arrive
  • B) to depart
  • C) to get in
  • D) to get out

Answer key

  1. A) komme an — the ich form of ankommen in the Present (Präsens) is komme an. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. B) kamst an — the du form of ankommen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is kamst an. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. C) ist angekommen — the er/sie/es form of ankommen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is ist angekommen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. B) waren angekommen — the wir form of ankommen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is waren angekommen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) wirst ankommen — the du form of ankommen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst ankommen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. A) werde angekommen sein — the ich form of ankommen in the Future perfect (Futur II) is werde angekommen sein. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. A) komme an — the er/sie/es form of ankommen in the Konjunktiv I is komme an. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) käme an — the ich form of ankommen in the Konjunktiv II is käme an. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. C) ankommend — the present participle (Partizip I) of ankommen is ankommend. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. A) to arrive — ankommen means “to arrive” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does ankommen mean in English?

ankommen means “to arrive”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is ankommen regular or irregular?

ankommen is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Partizip I is ankommend and Partizip II is angekommen.

What are the participles of ankommen?

Partizip I is ankommend — use it as an adjective. Partizip II is angekommen — use it with sein for the perfect tenses, as in bin angekommen.

Which auxiliary does ankommen take in the Perfekt?

ankommen takes sein in the Perfekt: the ich form is bin angekommen. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with sein plus the past participle angekommen.

How do I say “I arrive” in German?

Say “Ich komme um neun Uhr in Berlin an jeden Tag.” — “I arrive at nine o'clock in Berlin every day.” The ich form of the present is komme an, and it is the form you will use most often.

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