berichten — German conjugation

to report

Frequency#475Regular

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichberichteI report
duberichtestyou report
er/sie/esberichtethe/she/it reports
wirberichtenwe report
ihrberichtetyou (pl.) report
sie/Sieberichtenthey report

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichberichteteI reported
duberichtetestyou reported
er/sie/esberichtetehe/she/it reported
wirberichtetenwe reported
ihrberichtetetyou (pl.) reported
sie/Sieberichtetenthey reported

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhabe berichtetI have reported
duhast berichtetyou have reported
er/sie/eshat berichtethe/she/it has reported
wirhaben berichtetwe have reported
ihrhabt berichtetyou (pl.) have reported
sie/Siehaben berichtetthey have reported

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhatte berichtetI had reported
duhattest berichtetyou had reported
er/sie/eshatte berichtethe/she/it had reported
wirhatten berichtetwe had reported
ihrhattet berichtetyou (pl.) had reported
sie/Siehatten berichtetthey had reported

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde berichtenI will report
duwirst berichtenyou will report
er/sie/eswird berichtenhe/she/it will report
wirwerden berichtenwe will report
ihrwerdet berichtenyou (pl.) will report
sie/Siewerden berichtenthey will report

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.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde berichtet habenI will have reported
duwirst berichtet habenyou will have reported
er/sie/eswird berichtet habenhe/she/it will have reported
wirwerden berichtet habenwe will have reported
ihrwerdet berichtet habenyou (pl.) will have reported
sie/Siewerden berichtet habenthey will have reported

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?

PronounGerman
ichberichtete
duberichtetest
er/sie/esberichtete
wirberichteten
ihrberichtetet
sie/Sieberichteten

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.

PronounGerman
duberichte
ihrberichtet