beantworten — German conjugation
to answer
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 | beantworte | I answer |
| du | beantwortest | you answer |
| er/sie/es | beantwortet | he/she/it answers |
| wir | beantworten | we answer |
| ihr | beantwortet | you (pl.) answer |
| sie/Sie | beantworten | they answer |
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 | beantwortete | I answered |
| du | beantwortetest | you answered |
| er/sie/es | beantwortete | he/she/it answered |
| wir | beantworteten | we answered |
| ihr | beantwortetet | you (pl.) answered |
| sie/Sie | beantworteten | they answered |
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 beantwortet | I have answered |
| du | hast beantwortet | you have answered |
| er/sie/es | hat beantwortet | he/she/it has answered |
| wir | haben beantwortet | we have answered |
| ihr | habt beantwortet | you (pl.) have answered |
| sie/Sie | haben beantwortet | they have answered |
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 beantwortet | I had answered |
| du | hattest beantwortet | you had answered |
| er/sie/es | hatte beantwortet | he/she/it had answered |
| wir | hatten beantwortet | we had answered |
| ihr | hattet beantwortet | you (pl.) had answered |
| sie/Sie | hatten beantwortet | they had answered |
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 beantworten | I will answer |
| du | wirst beantworten | you will answer |
| er/sie/es | wird beantworten | he/she/it will answer |
| wir | werden beantworten | we will answer |
| ihr | werdet beantworten | you (pl.) will answer |
| sie/Sie | werden beantworten | they will answer |
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 beantwortet haben | I will have answered |
| du | wirst beantwortet haben | you will have answered |
| er/sie/es | wird beantwortet haben | he/she/it will have answered |
| wir | werden beantwortet haben | we will have answered |
| ihr | werdet beantwortet haben | you (pl.) will have answered |
| sie/Sie | werden beantwortet haben | they will have answered |
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 | beantwortete |
| du | beantwortetest |
| er/sie/es | beantwortete |
| wir | beantworteten |
| ihr | beantwortetet |
| sie/Sie | beantworteten |
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 | beantworte |
| ihr | beantwortet |