bellen — German conjugation
to bark
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 | belle | I bark |
| du | bellst | you bark |
| er/sie/es | bellt | he/she/it barks |
| wir | bellen | we bark |
| ihr | bellt | you (pl.) bark |
| sie/Sie | bellen | they bark |
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 | bellte | I barked |
| du | belltest | you barked |
| er/sie/es | bellte | he/she/it barked |
| wir | bellten | we barked |
| ihr | belltet | you (pl.) barked |
| sie/Sie | bellten | they barked |
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 gebellt | I have barked |
| du | hast gebellt | you have barked |
| er/sie/es | hat gebellt | he/she/it has barked |
| wir | haben gebellt | we have barked |
| ihr | habt gebellt | you (pl.) have barked |
| sie/Sie | haben gebellt | they have barked |
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 gebellt | I had barked |
| du | hattest gebellt | you had barked |
| er/sie/es | hatte gebellt | he/she/it had barked |
| wir | hatten gebellt | we had barked |
| ihr | hattet gebellt | you (pl.) had barked |
| sie/Sie | hatten gebellt | they had barked |
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 bellen | I will bark |
| du | wirst bellen | you will bark |
| er/sie/es | wird bellen | he/she/it will bark |
| wir | werden bellen | we will bark |
| ihr | werdet bellen | you (pl.) will bark |
| sie/Sie | werden bellen | they will bark |
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 gebellt haben | I will have barked |
| du | wirst gebellt haben | you will have barked |
| er/sie/es | wird gebellt haben | he/she/it will have barked |
| wir | werden gebellt haben | we will have barked |
| ihr | werdet gebellt haben | you (pl.) will have barked |
| sie/Sie | werden gebellt haben | they will have barked |
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 | bellte |
| du | belltest |
| er/sie/es | bellte |
| wir | bellten |
| ihr | belltet |
| sie/Sie | bellten |
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 | belle |
| ihr | bellt |