abbefehlen — German conjugation
to recommend
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Irregular
Präsens is the default present for facts, habits, and near-future plans. German has no continuous aspect in the same way as English, so a single form often covers both “I work” and “I am working” when you add a time adverb or context.
Ich arbeite heute im Homeoffice.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | befehle ab | I recommend |
| du | befiehlst ab | you recommend |
| er/sie/es | befiehlt ab | he/she/it recommends |
| wir | befehlen ab | we recommend |
| ihr | befehlt ab | you (pl.) recommend |
| sie/Sie | befehlen ab | they recommend |
Simple past (Präteritum) Irregular
Präteritum is a narrative past, common in print and in northern speech, while southern speakers lean on the perfect in conversation. sein and haben keep their Präteritum even when you otherwise avoid the preterite.
Er war müde, aber er hatte keinen Kaffee mehr.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | befahl ab | I recommended |
| du | befahlst ab | you recommended |
| er/sie/es | befahl ab | he/she/it recommended |
| wir | befahlen ab | we recommended |
| ihr | befahlt ab | you (pl.) recommended |
| sie/Sie | befahlen ab | they recommended |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Irregular
The Perfekt is the everyday past for finished events: auxiliary haben or sein plus participle, with sein for most motion, coming/going, and some change-of-state verbs.
Wir sind rechtzeitig angekommen und haben gefeiert.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | habe abbefohlen | I have recommended |
| du | hast abbefohlen | you have recommended |
| er/sie/es | hat abbefohlen | he/she/it has recommended |
| wir | haben abbefohlen | we have recommended |
| ihr | habt abbefohlen | you (pl.) have recommended |
| sie/Sie | haben abbefohlen | they have recommended |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Irregular
The Plusquamperfekt is the pluperfect: it marks what had already completed before a later past episode in the same narrative.
Sie war schon gegangen, bevor er ankam.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte abbefohlen | I had recommended |
| du | hattest abbefohlen | you had recommended |
| er/sie/es | hatte abbefohlen | he/she/it had recommended |
| wir | hatten abbefohlen | we had recommended |
| ihr | hattet abbefohlen | you (pl.) had recommended |
| sie/Sie | hatten abbefohlen | they had recommended |
Future I (Futur I) Irregular
Futur I is for predictions, firm promises, and also probability about the present in colloquial German. Everyday speech very often uses Präsens plus a time expression instead.
Morgen schneit es, sagt der Wetterbericht.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde abbefehlen | I will recommend |
| du | wirst abbefehlen | you will recommend |
| er/sie/es | wird abbefehlen | he/she/it will recommend |
| wir | werden abbefehlen | we will recommend |
| ihr | werdet abbefehlen | you (pl.) will recommend |
| sie/Sie | werden abbefehlen | they will recommend |
Future II (Futur II) Irregular
Futur II (werden + participle + haben/sein) names an action that will be completed before a later time, and can also express a guess that something must already have happened.
Bis Freitag werde ich alles gepackt haben.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde abbefohlen haben | I will have recommended |
| du | wirst abbefohlen haben | you will have recommended |
| er/sie/es | wird abbefohlen haben | he/she/it will have recommended |
| wir | werden abbefohlen haben | we will have recommended |
| ihr | werdet abbefohlen haben | you (pl.) will have recommended |
| sie/Sie | werden abbefohlen haben | they will have recommended |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Irregular
Konjunktiv II is the mood for politeness, contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and reported views. In speech, würde + infinitive often stands in for rarer preterit-based forms.
Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| ich | befähle ab |
| du | befählest ab |
| er/sie/es | befähle ab |
| wir | befählen ab |
| ihr | befählet ab |
| sie/Sie | befählen ab |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Irregular
The imperative uses the du, ihr, and Sie forms of command; the informal du form drops the -st of the present for many strong verbs, and separable-prefix verbs place the prefix at the end.
Mach bitte schnell, der Zug fährt gleich ab.
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| du | befiehl ab |
| ihr | befehlt ab |