begehen — German conjugation
to commit (an act)
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 | begehe | I commit |
| du | begehst | you commit |
| er/sie/es | begeht | he/she/it commits |
| wir | begehen | we commit |
| ihr | begeht | you (pl.) commit |
| sie/Sie | begehen | they commit |
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 | beging | I committed |
| du | begingst | you committed |
| er/sie/es | beging | he/she/it committed |
| wir | begingen | we committed |
| ihr | begingt | you (pl.) committed |
| sie/Sie | begingen | they committed |
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 begangen | I have committed |
| du | hast begangen | you have committed |
| er/sie/es | hat begangen | he/she/it has committed |
| wir | haben begangen | we have committed |
| ihr | habt begangen | you (pl.) have committed |
| sie/Sie | haben begangen | they have committed |
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 begangen | I had committed |
| du | hattest begangen | you had committed |
| er/sie/es | hatte begangen | he/she/it had committed |
| wir | hatten begangen | we had committed |
| ihr | hattet begangen | you (pl.) had committed |
| sie/Sie | hatten begangen | they had committed |
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 begehen | I will commit |
| du | wirst begehen | you will commit |
| er/sie/es | wird begehen | he/she/it will commit |
| wir | werden begehen | we will commit |
| ihr | werdet begehen | you (pl.) will commit |
| sie/Sie | werden begehen | they will commit |
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 begangen haben | I will have committed |
| du | wirst begangen haben | you will have committed |
| er/sie/es | wird begangen haben | he/she/it will have committed |
| wir | werden begangen haben | we will have committed |
| ihr | werdet begangen haben | you (pl.) will have committed |
| sie/Sie | werden begangen haben | they will have committed |
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 | beginge |
| du | begingest |
| er/sie/es | beginge |
| wir | begingen |
| ihr | beginget |
| sie/Sie | begingen |
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 | begehe |
| ihr | begeht |