befreien — German conjugation
to free (make free), to liberate
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 | befreie | I free |
| du | befreist | you free |
| er/sie/es | befreit | he/she/it frees |
| wir | befreien | we free |
| ihr | befreit | you (pl.) free |
| sie/Sie | befreien | they free |
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 | befreite | I freed |
| du | befreitest | you freed |
| er/sie/es | befreite | he/she/it freed |
| wir | befreiten | we freed |
| ihr | befreitet | you (pl.) freed |
| sie/Sie | befreiten | they freed |
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 befreit | I have freed |
| du | hast befreit | you have freed |
| er/sie/es | hat befreit | he/she/it has freed |
| wir | haben befreit | we have freed |
| ihr | habt befreit | you (pl.) have freed |
| sie/Sie | haben befreit | they have freed |
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 befreit | I had freed |
| du | hattest befreit | you had freed |
| er/sie/es | hatte befreit | he/she/it had freed |
| wir | hatten befreit | we had freed |
| ihr | hattet befreit | you (pl.) had freed |
| sie/Sie | hatten befreit | they had freed |
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 befreien | I will free |
| du | wirst befreien | you will free |
| er/sie/es | wird befreien | he/she/it will free |
| wir | werden befreien | we will free |
| ihr | werdet befreien | you (pl.) will free |
| sie/Sie | werden befreien | they will free |
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 befreit haben | I will have freed |
| du | wirst befreit haben | you will have freed |
| er/sie/es | wird befreit haben | he/she/it will have freed |
| wir | werden befreit haben | we will have freed |
| ihr | werdet befreit haben | you (pl.) will have freed |
| sie/Sie | werden befreit haben | they will have freed |
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 | befreite |
| du | befreitest |
| er/sie/es | befreite |
| wir | befreiten |
| ihr | befreitet |
| sie/Sie | befreiten |
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 | befreie |
| ihr | befreit |