begleiten — German conjugation
to accompany
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 | begleite | I accompany |
| du | begleitest | you accompany |
| er/sie/es | begleitet | he/she/it accompanies |
| wir | begleiten | we accompany |
| ihr | begleitet | you (pl.) accompany |
| sie/Sie | begleiten | they accompany |
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 | begleitete | I accompanied |
| du | begleitetest | you accompanied |
| er/sie/es | begleitete | he/she/it accompanied |
| wir | begleiteten | we accompanied |
| ihr | begleitetet | you (pl.) accompanied |
| sie/Sie | begleiteten | they accompanied |
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 begleitet | I have accompanied |
| du | hast begleitet | you have accompanied |
| er/sie/es | hat begleitet | he/she/it has accompanied |
| wir | haben begleitet | we have accompanied |
| ihr | habt begleitet | you (pl.) have accompanied |
| sie/Sie | haben begleitet | they have accompanied |
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 begleitet | I had accompanied |
| du | hattest begleitet | you had accompanied |
| er/sie/es | hatte begleitet | he/she/it had accompanied |
| wir | hatten begleitet | we had accompanied |
| ihr | hattet begleitet | you (pl.) had accompanied |
| sie/Sie | hatten begleitet | they had accompanied |
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 begleiten | I will accompany |
| du | wirst begleiten | you will accompany |
| er/sie/es | wird begleiten | he/she/it will accompany |
| wir | werden begleiten | we will accompany |
| ihr | werdet begleiten | you (pl.) will accompany |
| sie/Sie | werden begleiten | they will accompany |
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 begleitet haben | I will have accompanied |
| du | wirst begleitet haben | you will have accompanied |
| er/sie/es | wird begleitet haben | he/she/it will have accompanied |
| wir | werden begleitet haben | we will have accompanied |
| ihr | werdet begleitet haben | you (pl.) will have accompanied |
| sie/Sie | werden begleitet haben | they will have accompanied |
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 | begleitete |
| du | begleitetest |
| er/sie/es | begleitete |
| wir | begleiteten |
| ihr | begleitetet |
| sie/Sie | begleiteten |
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 | begleite |
| ihr | begleitet |