besiegen — German conjugation
to defeat, to overcome
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 | besiege | I defeat |
| du | besiegst | you defeat |
| er/sie/es | besiegt | he/she/it defeats |
| wir | besiegen | we defeat |
| ihr | besiegt | you (pl.) defeat |
| sie/Sie | besiegen | they defeat |
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 | besiegte | I defeated |
| du | besiegtest | you defeated |
| er/sie/es | besiegte | he/she/it defeated |
| wir | besiegten | we defeated |
| ihr | besiegtet | you (pl.) defeated |
| sie/Sie | besiegten | they defeated |
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 besiegt | I have defeated |
| du | hast besiegt | you have defeated |
| er/sie/es | hat besiegt | he/she/it has defeated |
| wir | haben besiegt | we have defeated |
| ihr | habt besiegt | you (pl.) have defeated |
| sie/Sie | haben besiegt | they have defeated |
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 besiegt | I had defeated |
| du | hattest besiegt | you had defeated |
| er/sie/es | hatte besiegt | he/she/it had defeated |
| wir | hatten besiegt | we had defeated |
| ihr | hattet besiegt | you (pl.) had defeated |
| sie/Sie | hatten besiegt | they had defeated |
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 besiegen | I will defeat |
| du | wirst besiegen | you will defeat |
| er/sie/es | wird besiegen | he/she/it will defeat |
| wir | werden besiegen | we will defeat |
| ihr | werdet besiegen | you (pl.) will defeat |
| sie/Sie | werden besiegen | they will defeat |
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 besiegt haben | I will have defeated |
| du | wirst besiegt haben | you will have defeated |
| er/sie/es | wird besiegt haben | he/she/it will have defeated |
| wir | werden besiegt haben | we will have defeated |
| ihr | werdet besiegt haben | you (pl.) will have defeated |
| sie/Sie | werden besiegt haben | they will have defeated |
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 | besiegte |
| du | besiegtest |
| er/sie/es | besiegte |
| wir | besiegten |
| ihr | besiegtet |
| sie/Sie | besiegten |
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 | besiege |
| ihr | besiegt |