befinden — German conjugation
to find (oneself)
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 | befinde | I find |
| du | befindest | you find |
| er/sie/es | befindet | he/she/it finds |
| wir | befinden | we find |
| ihr | befindet | you (pl.) find |
| sie/Sie | befinden | they find |
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 | befand | I found |
| du | befandest | you found |
| er/sie/es | befand | he/she/it found |
| wir | befanden | we found |
| ihr | befandet | you (pl.) found |
| sie/Sie | befanden | they found |
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 befunden | I have found |
| du | hast befunden | you have found |
| er/sie/es | hat befunden | he/she/it has found |
| wir | haben befunden | we have found |
| ihr | habt befunden | you (pl.) have found |
| sie/Sie | haben befunden | they have found |
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 befunden | I had found |
| du | hattest befunden | you had found |
| er/sie/es | hatte befunden | he/she/it had found |
| wir | hatten befunden | we had found |
| ihr | hattet befunden | you (pl.) had found |
| sie/Sie | hatten befunden | they had found |
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 befinden | I will find |
| du | wirst befinden | you will find |
| er/sie/es | wird befinden | he/she/it will find |
| wir | werden befinden | we will find |
| ihr | werdet befinden | you (pl.) will find |
| sie/Sie | werden befinden | they will find |
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 befunden haben | I will have found |
| du | wirst befunden haben | you will have found |
| er/sie/es | wird befunden haben | he/she/it will have found |
| wir | werden befunden haben | we will have found |
| ihr | werdet befunden haben | you (pl.) will have found |
| sie/Sie | werden befunden haben | they will have found |
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 | befände |
| du | befändest |
| er/sie/es | befände |
| wir | befänden |
| ihr | befändet |
| sie/Sie | befänden |
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 | befinde |
| ihr | befindet |