bemalen — German conjugation
to paint
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 | bemale | I paint |
| du | bemalst | you paint |
| er/sie/es | bemalt | he/she/it paints |
| wir | bemalen | we paint |
| ihr | bemalt | you (pl.) paint |
| sie/Sie | bemalen | they paint |
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 | bemalte | I painted |
| du | bemaltest | you painted |
| er/sie/es | bemalte | he/she/it painted |
| wir | bemalten | we painted |
| ihr | bemaltet | you (pl.) painted |
| sie/Sie | bemalten | they painted |
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 bemalt | I have painted |
| du | hast bemalt | you have painted |
| er/sie/es | hat bemalt | he/she/it has painted |
| wir | haben bemalt | we have painted |
| ihr | habt bemalt | you (pl.) have painted |
| sie/Sie | haben bemalt | they have painted |
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 bemalt | I had painted |
| du | hattest bemalt | you had painted |
| er/sie/es | hatte bemalt | he/she/it had painted |
| wir | hatten bemalt | we had painted |
| ihr | hattet bemalt | you (pl.) had painted |
| sie/Sie | hatten bemalt | they had painted |
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 bemalen | I will paint |
| du | wirst bemalen | you will paint |
| er/sie/es | wird bemalen | he/she/it will paint |
| wir | werden bemalen | we will paint |
| ihr | werdet bemalen | you (pl.) will paint |
| sie/Sie | werden bemalen | they will paint |
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 bemalt haben | I will have painted |
| du | wirst bemalt haben | you will have painted |
| er/sie/es | wird bemalt haben | he/she/it will have painted |
| wir | werden bemalt haben | we will have painted |
| ihr | werdet bemalt haben | you (pl.) will have painted |
| sie/Sie | werden bemalt haben | they will have painted |
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 | bemalte |
| du | bemaltest |
| er/sie/es | bemalte |
| wir | bemalten |
| ihr | bemaltet |
| sie/Sie | bemalten |
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 | bemale |
| ihr | bemalt |