beben — German conjugation
to tremble
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Regular
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 | bebe | I tremble |
| du | bebst | you tremble |
| er/sie/es | bebt | he/she/it trembles |
| wir | beben | we tremble |
| ihr | bebt | you (pl.) tremble |
| sie/Sie | beben | they tremble |
Simple past (Präteritum) Regular
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 | bebte | I trembled |
| du | bebtest | you trembled |
| er/sie/es | bebte | he/she/it trembled |
| wir | bebten | we trembled |
| ihr | bebtet | you (pl.) trembled |
| sie/Sie | bebten | they trembled |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Regular
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 gebebt | I have trembled |
| du | hast gebebt | you have trembled |
| er/sie/es | hat gebebt | he/she/it has trembled |
| wir | haben gebebt | we have trembled |
| ihr | habt gebebt | you (pl.) have trembled |
| sie/Sie | haben gebebt | they have trembled |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Regular
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 gebebt | I had trembled |
| du | hattest gebebt | you had trembled |
| er/sie/es | hatte gebebt | he/she/it had trembled |
| wir | hatten gebebt | we had trembled |
| ihr | hattet gebebt | you (pl.) had trembled |
| sie/Sie | hatten gebebt | they had trembled |
Future I (Futur I) Regular
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 beben | I will tremble |
| du | wirst beben | you will tremble |
| er/sie/es | wird beben | he/she/it will tremble |
| wir | werden beben | we will tremble |
| ihr | werdet beben | you (pl.) will tremble |
| sie/Sie | werden beben | they will tremble |
Future II (Futur II) Regular
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 gebebt haben | I will have trembled |
| du | wirst gebebt haben | you will have trembled |
| er/sie/es | wird gebebt haben | he/she/it will have trembled |
| wir | werden gebebt haben | we will have trembled |
| ihr | werdet gebebt haben | you (pl.) will have trembled |
| sie/Sie | werden gebebt haben | they will have trembled |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Regular
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 | bebte |
| du | bebtest |
| er/sie/es | bebte |
| wir | bebten |
| ihr | bebtet |
| sie/Sie | bebten |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Regular
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 | bebe |
| ihr | bebt |