Flüstern Conjugation in German
flüstern means “to whisper” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 109 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about whispering into my friend's ear, 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 flüstern — 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 flüstere meinem Freund ins Ohr jeden Tag.” — “I whisper into my friend's ear every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: flüstern
- English: to whisper
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Pattern: weak
- Separable: no
- Participle I: flüsternd
- Past participle (Partizip II): geflüstert
- Auxiliary: haben (all perfect tenses are formed with haben + the past participle)
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for flüstern, 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 flüstern in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about flüstern
- It is regular: every form follows the ordinary weak pattern, so once you know the stem you can build the whole table. The only work is learning the endings, not memorising exceptions.
- The perfect tenses use haben: the perfect is formed with haben in the present plus the past participle geflüstert. 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.
- Partizip I is flüsternd and Partizip II is geflüstert: 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 flüstern. 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 | flüstere |
| du | flüsterst |
| er/sie/es | flüstert |
| wir | flüstern |
| ihr | flüstert |
| sie/Sie | flüstern |
The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Ich flüstere leise mit meiner Schwester jeden Tag.” — “I whisper quietly with my sister every day.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | flüsterte |
| du | flüstertest |
| er/sie/es | flüsterte |
| wir | flüsterten |
| ihr | flüstertet |
| sie/Sie | flüsterten |
The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. For example: “Du flüstertest leise mit meiner Schwester gestern.” — “You whispered quietly with my sister yesterday.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe geflüstert |
| du | hast geflüstert |
| er/sie/es | hat geflüstert |
| wir | haben geflüstert |
| ihr | habt geflüstert |
| sie/Sie | haben geflüstert |
The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er hat leise mit meiner Schwester geflüstert gestern.” — “He has whispered quietly with my sister yesterday.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte geflüstert |
| du | hattest geflüstert |
| er/sie/es | hatte geflüstert |
| wir | hatten geflüstert |
| ihr | hattet geflüstert |
| sie/Sie | hatten geflüstert |
The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten leise mit meiner Schwester geflüstert vor der Party.” — “We had whispered quietly with my sister before the party.”
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde flüstern |
| du | wirst flüstern |
| er/sie/es | wird flüstern |
| wir | werden flüstern |
| ihr | werdet flüstern |
| sie/Sie | werden flüstern |
The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde leise mit meiner Schwester flüstern morgen.” — “I will whisper quietly with my sister tomorrow.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde geflüstert haben |
| du | wirst geflüstert haben |
| er/sie/es | wird geflüstert haben |
| wir | werden geflüstert haben |
| ihr | werdet geflüstert haben |
| sie/Sie | werden geflüstert haben |
The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst leise mit meiner Schwester geflüstert haben bis morgen.” — “You will have whispered quietly with my sister by tomorrow.”
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | flüstere |
| du | flüsterest |
| er/sie/es | flüstere |
| wir | flüstern |
| ihr | flüstert |
| sie/Sie | flüstern |
Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er flüstere leise mit meiner Schwester.” — “It is important that he whisper quietly with my sister.”
Konjunktiv II
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | flüsterte |
| du | flüstertest |
| er/sie/es | flüsterte |
| wir | flüsterten |
| ihr | flüstertet |
| sie/Sie | flüsterten |
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. For example: “Ich flüsterte leise mit meiner Schwester eines Tages.” — “I would whisper quietly with my sister one day.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hätte geflüstert |
| du | hättest geflüstert |
| er/sie/es | hätte geflüstert |
| wir | hätten geflüstert |
| ihr | hättet geflüstert |
| sie/Sie | hätten geflüstert |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte leise mit meiner Schwester geflüstert gestern.” — “He would have whispered quietly with my sister yesterday.”
Imperative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | flüster |
| wir | flüstern |
| ihr | flüstert |
| sie | flüstern |
The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Flüster leise mit meiner Schwester!” — “Whisper quietly with my sister!”
Present participle (Partizip I)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle | flüsternd |
The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle flüsternd describes something that is whispering. The present-tense sentence “Ich flüstere meinem Freund ins Ohr jeden Tag.” — “I whisper into my friend's ear every day.” shows the same verb in action.
Past participle (Partizip II)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Past participle | geflüstert |
The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe meinem Freund ins Ohr geflüstert gestern.” — “I have whispered into my friend's ear yesterday.”
Infinitive
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | flüstern |
The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive flüstern 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 meinem Freund ins Ohr flüstern morgen.” — “I will whisper into my friend's ear tomorrow.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with flüstern, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich flüstere meinem Freund ins Ohr jeden Tag.” — “I whisper into my friend's ear every day.”
- “Du flüstertest leise mit meiner Schwester gestern.” — “You whispered quietly with my sister yesterday.”
- “Er hat im Kino mit meinem Bruder geflüstert gestern.” — “He has whispered in the cinema with my brother yesterday.”
- “Wir hatten meinem Freund ins Ohr geflüstert vor der Party.” — “We had whispered into my friend's ear before the party.”
- “Ich werde leise mit meiner Schwester flüstern morgen.” — “I will whisper quietly with my sister tomorrow.”
- “Du wirst im Kino mit meinem Bruder geflüstert haben bis morgen.” — “You will have whispered in the cinema with my brother by tomorrow.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass er flüstere meinem Freund ins Ohr.” — “It is important that he whisper into my friend's ear.”
- “Ich flüsterte leise mit meiner Schwester eines Tages.” — “I would whisper quietly with my sister one day.”
- “Er hätte im Kino mit meinem Bruder geflüstert gestern.” — “He would have whispered in the cinema with my brother yesterday.”
- “Flüster meinem Freund ins Ohr!” — “Whisper into my friend's ear!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich flüstern meinem Freund ins Ohr.”
✓ Right: “Ich flüstere meinem Freund ins Ohr.”
The infinitive flüstern never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form flüstere.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Ich flüstern meinem Freund ins Ohr.”
✓ Right: “Ich flüstere meinem Freund ins Ohr.”
flüstern is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with flüstere.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich flüstere meinem Freund ins Ohr gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe meinem Freund ins Ohr geflüstert gestern.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe geflüstert, not the present.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich flüstere meinem Freund ins Ohr.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich flüstere meinem Freund ins Ohr.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use flüstere here, not the indicative flüstere.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich bin geflüstert meinem Freund ins Ohr.”
✓ Right: “habe geflüstert meinem Freund ins Ohr.”
The Perfekt of flüstern is formed with haben plus the past participle geflüstert: the ich form is habe geflüstert. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Using the preterite for a daily habit
✗ Wrong: “Ich flüsterte meinem Freund ins Ohr jeden Tag.”
✓ Right: “Ich flüstere meinem Freund ins Ohr jeden Tag.”
The preterite flüsterte describes a past action. For something you do every day, use the present flüstere.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on flüstern. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of flüstern in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) flüsterst
- B) flüstert
- C) flüstern
- D) flüstere
What is the du form of flüstern in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) flüstertest
- B) flüsterte
- C) flüsterten
- D) flüstertet
What is the er/sie/es form of flüstern in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) habe geflüstert
- B) hast geflüstert
- C) haben geflüstert
- D) hat geflüstert
What is the wir form of flüstern in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatten geflüstert
- B) hatte geflüstert
- C) hattest geflüstert
- D) hattet geflüstert
What is the du form of flüstern in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werden flüstern
- B) wirst flüstern
- C) werde flüstern
- D) wird flüstern
What is the ich form of flüstern in the Future perfect (Futur II)?
- A) wirst geflüstert haben
- B) wird geflüstert haben
- C) werden geflüstert haben
- D) werde geflüstert haben
What is the er/sie/es form of flüstern in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) flüsterest
- B) flüstern
- C) flüstert
- D) flüstere
What is the ich form of flüstern in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) flüstertest
- B) flüsterten
- C) flüstertet
- D) flüsterte
What is the present participle (Partizip I) of flüstern?
- A) erzählend
- B) erklärend
- C) flüsternd
- D) redend
What does flüstern mean in English?
- A) to talk
- B) to tell
- C) to explain
- D) to whisper
Answer key
- D) flüstere — the ich form of flüstern in the Present (Präsens) is flüstere. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) flüstertest — the du form of flüstern in the Preterite (Präteritum) is flüstertest. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) hat geflüstert — the er/sie/es form of flüstern in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat geflüstert. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) hatten geflüstert — the wir form of flüstern in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatten geflüstert. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) wirst flüstern — the du form of flüstern in the Future (Futur I) is wirst flüstern. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) werde geflüstert haben — the ich form of flüstern in the Future perfect (Futur II) is werde geflüstert haben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) flüstere — the er/sie/es form of flüstern in the Konjunktiv I is flüstere. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) flüsterte — the ich form of flüstern in the Konjunktiv II is flüsterte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) flüsternd — the present participle (Partizip I) of flüstern is flüsternd. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to whisper — flüstern means “to whisper” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does flüstern mean in English?
flüstern means “to whisper”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is flüstern regular or irregular?
flüstern is regular: it follows the ordinary weak pattern in every tense. Partizip I is flüsternd and Partizip II is geflüstert.
What are the participles of flüstern?
Partizip I is flüsternd — use it as an adjective. Partizip II is geflüstert — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe geflüstert.
Which auxiliary does flüstern take in the Perfekt?
flüstern takes haben in the Perfekt: the ich form is habe geflüstert. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with haben plus the past participle geflüstert.
How do I say “I whisper” in German?
Say “Ich flüstere meinem Freund ins Ohr jeden Tag.” — “I whisper into my friend's ear every day.” The ich form of the present is flüstere, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of flüstern — every tense of flüstern in one place.
- Flüstern in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Flüstern examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Reden conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Erzählen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Erklären conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Conjugator — practise flüstern with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise flüstern with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise flüstern with the interactive tool.