Conjunation

anbrechen — German conjugation

to begin

Frequency#1878Irregular

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichbreche anI begin
dubrichst anyou begin
er/sie/esbricht anhe/she/it begins
wirbrechen anwe begin
ihrbrecht anyou (pl.) begin
sie/Siebrechen anthey begin

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichbrach anI began
dubrachst anyou began
er/sie/esbrach anhe/she/it began
wirbrachen anwe began
ihrbracht anyou (pl.) began
sie/Siebrachen anthey began

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhabe angebrochenI have begun
duhast angebrochenyou have begun
er/sie/eshat angebrochenhe/she/it has begun
wirhaben angebrochenwe have begun
ihrhabt angebrochenyou (pl.) have begun
sie/Siehaben angebrochenthey have begun

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhatte angebrochenI had begun
duhattest angebrochenyou had begun
er/sie/eshatte angebrochenhe/she/it had begun
wirhatten angebrochenwe had begun
ihrhattet angebrochenyou (pl.) had begun
sie/Siehatten angebrochenthey had begun

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde anbrechenI will begin
duwirst anbrechenyou will begin
er/sie/eswird anbrechenhe/she/it will begin
wirwerden anbrechenwe will begin
ihrwerdet anbrechenyou (pl.) will begin
sie/Siewerden anbrechenthey will begin

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde angebrochen habenI will have begun
duwirst angebrochen habenyou will have begun
er/sie/eswird angebrochen habenhe/she/it will have begun
wirwerden angebrochen habenwe will have begun
ihrwerdet angebrochen habenyou (pl.) will have begun
sie/Siewerden angebrochen habenthey will have begun

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?

PronounGerman
ichbräche an
dubrächest an
er/sie/esbräche an
wirbrächen an
ihrbrächet an
sie/Siebrächen an

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.

PronounGerman
dubrich an
ihrbrecht an

Verbs near anbrechen

aliquotieren · amalgamieren · ambulieren · ameliorieren · anastomosieren · anfahren · anfallen · anfasen · anfressen · angehören