Schließen Conjugation in German

schließen means “to close” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 46 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about closing the door, 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 schließen — 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 schließe die Tür jeden Tag.” — “I close the door every day.”

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: schließen
  • English: to close
  • Verb type: Irregular
  • Irregular in: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative
  • Pattern: strong
  • Separable: no
  • Participle I: schließend
  • Past participle (Partizip II): geschlossen
  • 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 schließen, 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 schließen in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.

Three things to remember about schließen

  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 haben: the perfect is formed with haben in the present plus the past participle geschlossen. 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 schließend and Partizip II is geschlossen: 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 schließen. 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 schließe
du schließt
er/sie/es schließt
wir schließen
ihr schließt
sie/Sie schließen

The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With schließen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ich schließe das Fenster jeden Tag.” — “I close the window every day.”

Preterite (Präteritum)

Person Form
ich schloss
du schlossest
er/sie/es schloss
wir schlossen
ihr schlosst
sie/Sie schlossen

The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. With schließen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Du schlossest das Fenster gestern.” — “You closed the window yesterday.”

Perfect (Perfekt)

Person Form
ich habe geschlossen
du hast geschlossen
er/sie/es hat geschlossen
wir haben geschlossen
ihr habt geschlossen
sie/Sie haben geschlossen

The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er hat das Fenster geschlossen gestern.” — “He has closed the window yesterday.”

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

Person Form
ich hatte geschlossen
du hattest geschlossen
er/sie/es hatte geschlossen
wir hatten geschlossen
ihr hattet geschlossen
sie/Sie hatten geschlossen

The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten das Fenster geschlossen vor der Party.” — “We had closed the window before the party.”

Future (Futur I)

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

The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde das Fenster schließen morgen.” — “I will close the window tomorrow.”

Future perfect (Futur II)

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

The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst das Fenster geschlossen haben bis morgen.” — “You will have closed the window by tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv I

Person Form
ich schließe
du schließest
er/sie/es schließe
wir schließen
ihr schließet
sie/Sie schließen

Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er schließe das Fenster.” — “It is important that he close the window.”

Konjunktiv II

Person Form
ich schlösse
du schlössest
er/sie/es schlösse
wir schlössen
ihr schlösset
sie/Sie schlössen

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 schlösse das Fenster eines Tages.” — “I would close the window one day.”

Conditional perfect

Person Form
ich hätte geschlossen
du hättest geschlossen
er/sie/es hätte geschlossen
wir hätten geschlossen
ihr hättet geschlossen
sie/Sie hätten geschlossen

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte das Fenster geschlossen gestern.” — “He would have closed the window yesterday.”

Imperative

Person Form
du schließ
wir schließen
ihr schließt
sie schließen

The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. With schließen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Schließ das Fenster!” — “Close the window!”

Present participle (Partizip I)

Form German
Present participle schließend

The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle schließend describes something that is closing. The present-tense sentence “Ich schließe die Tür jeden Tag.” — “I close the door every day.” shows the same verb in action.

Past participle (Partizip II)

Form German
Past participle geschlossen

The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe die Tür geschlossen gestern.” — “I have closed the door yesterday.”

Infinitive

Form German
Infinitive schließen

The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive schließen 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 die Tür schließen morgen.” — “I will close the door tomorrow.”

Example sentences

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

  1. “Ich schließe die Tür jeden Tag.” — “I close the door every day.”
  2. “Du schlossest das Fenster gestern.” — “You closed the window yesterday.”
  3. “Er hat den Laden geschlossen gestern.” — “He has closed the shop yesterday.”
  4. “Wir hatten die Tür geschlossen vor der Party.” — “We had closed the door before the party.”
  5. “Ich werde das Fenster schließen morgen.” — “I will close the window tomorrow.”
  6. “Du wirst den Laden geschlossen haben bis morgen.” — “You will have closed the shop by tomorrow.”
  7. “Es ist wichtig, dass er schließe die Tür.” — “It is important that he close the door.”
  8. “Ich schlösse das Fenster eines Tages.” — “I would close the window one day.”
  9. “Er hätte den Laden geschlossen gestern.” — “He would have closed the shop yesterday.”
  10. “Schließ die Tür!” — “Close the door!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich schließen die Tür.”

✓ Right: “Ich schließe die Tür.”

The infinitive schließen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form schließe.

2. Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Ich schließen die Tür.”

✓ Right: “Ich schließe die Tür.”

schließen is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with schließe.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich schließe die Tür gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe die Tür geschlossen gestern.”

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

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich schließe die Tür.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich schließe die Tür.”

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

5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich bin geschlossen die Tür.”

✓ Right: “habe geschlossen die Tür.”

The Perfekt of schließen is formed with haben plus the past participle geschlossen: the ich form is habe geschlossen. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.

6. Using the preterite for a daily habit

✗ Wrong: “Ich schloss die Tür jeden Tag.”

✓ Right: “Ich schließe die Tür jeden Tag.”

The preterite schloss describes a past action. For something you do every day, use the present schließe.

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) schließe
    • B) schließt
    • C) schließen
    • D) schloss

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

    • A) schlosst
    • B) schlossest
    • C) schloss
    • D) schlossen

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

    • A) haben geschlossen
    • B) hat geschlossen
    • C) habe geschlossen
    • D) hast geschlossen

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

    • A) hattest geschlossen
    • B) hattet geschlossen
    • C) hatten geschlossen
    • D) hatte geschlossen

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

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

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

    • A) werden geschlossen haben
    • B) werde geschlossen haben
    • C) wirst geschlossen haben
    • D) wird geschlossen haben

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

    • A) schließe
    • B) schließest
    • C) schließen
    • D) schließet

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

    • A) schlösset
    • B) schlösse
    • C) schlössest
    • D) schlössen

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

    • A) rennend
    • B) springend
    • C) schließend
    • D) laufend

  10. What does schließen mean in English?

  • A) to run
  • B) to run fast
  • C) to jump
  • D) to close

Answer key

  1. A) schließe — the ich form of schließen in the Present (Präsens) is schließe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. B) schlossest — the du form of schließen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is schlossest. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. B) hat geschlossen — the er/sie/es form of schließen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat geschlossen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. C) hatten geschlossen — the wir form of schließen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatten geschlossen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) wirst schließen — the du form of schließen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst schließen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. B) werde geschlossen haben — the ich form of schließen in the Future perfect (Futur II) is werde geschlossen haben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. A) schließe — the er/sie/es form of schließen in the Konjunktiv I is schließe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. B) schlösse — the ich form of schließen in the Konjunktiv II is schlösse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. C) schließend — the present participle (Partizip I) of schließen is schließend. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. D) to close — schließen means “to close” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does schließen mean in English?

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

Is schließen regular or irregular?

schließen is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Partizip I is schließend and Partizip II is geschlossen.

What are the participles of schließen?

Partizip I is schließend — use it as an adjective. Partizip II is geschlossen — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe geschlossen.

Which auxiliary does schließen take in the Perfekt?

schließen takes haben in the Perfekt: the ich form is habe geschlossen. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with haben plus the past participle geschlossen.

How do I say “I close” in German?

Say “Ich schließe die Tür jeden Tag.” — “I close the door every day.” The ich form of the present is schließe, and it is the form you will use most often.

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