bergen — German conjugation
to rescue
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 | berge | I rescue |
| du | birgst | you rescue |
| er/sie/es | birgt | he/she/it rescues |
| wir | bergen | we rescue |
| ihr | bergt | you (pl.) rescue |
| sie/Sie | bergen | they rescue |
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 | barg | I rescued |
| du | bargst | you rescued |
| er/sie/es | barg | he/she/it rescued |
| wir | bargen | we rescued |
| ihr | bargt | you (pl.) rescued |
| sie/Sie | bargen | they rescued |
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 geborgen | I have rescued |
| du | hast geborgen | you have rescued |
| er/sie/es | hat geborgen | he/she/it has rescued |
| wir | haben geborgen | we have rescued |
| ihr | habt geborgen | you (pl.) have rescued |
| sie/Sie | haben geborgen | they have rescued |
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 geborgen | I had rescued |
| du | hattest geborgen | you had rescued |
| er/sie/es | hatte geborgen | he/she/it had rescued |
| wir | hatten geborgen | we had rescued |
| ihr | hattet geborgen | you (pl.) had rescued |
| sie/Sie | hatten geborgen | they had rescued |
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 bergen | I will rescue |
| du | wirst bergen | you will rescue |
| er/sie/es | wird bergen | he/she/it will rescue |
| wir | werden bergen | we will rescue |
| ihr | werdet bergen | you (pl.) will rescue |
| sie/Sie | werden bergen | they will rescue |
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 geborgen haben | I will have rescued |
| du | wirst geborgen haben | you will have rescued |
| er/sie/es | wird geborgen haben | he/she/it will have rescued |
| wir | werden geborgen haben | we will have rescued |
| ihr | werdet geborgen haben | you (pl.) will have rescued |
| sie/Sie | werden geborgen haben | they will have rescued |
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 | bärge |
| du | bärgest |
| er/sie/es | bärge |
| wir | bärgen |
| ihr | bärget |
| sie/Sie | bärgen |
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 | birg |
| ihr | bergt |