besinnen — German conjugation
to reflect (on); to think (about); to contemplate
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 | besinne | I reflect |
| du | besinnst | you reflect |
| er/sie/es | besinnt | he/she/it reflects |
| wir | besinnen | we reflect |
| ihr | besinnt | you (pl.) reflect |
| sie/Sie | besinnen | they reflect |
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 | besann | I reflected |
| du | besannst | you reflected |
| er/sie/es | besann | he/she/it reflected |
| wir | besannen | we reflected |
| ihr | besannt | you (pl.) reflected |
| sie/Sie | besannen | they reflected |
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 besonnen | I have reflected |
| du | hast besonnen | you have reflected |
| er/sie/es | hat besonnen | he/she/it has reflected |
| wir | haben besonnen | we have reflected |
| ihr | habt besonnen | you (pl.) have reflected |
| sie/Sie | haben besonnen | they have reflected |
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 besonnen | I had reflected |
| du | hattest besonnen | you had reflected |
| er/sie/es | hatte besonnen | he/she/it had reflected |
| wir | hatten besonnen | we had reflected |
| ihr | hattet besonnen | you (pl.) had reflected |
| sie/Sie | hatten besonnen | they had reflected |
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 besinnen | I will reflect |
| du | wirst besinnen | you will reflect |
| er/sie/es | wird besinnen | he/she/it will reflect |
| wir | werden besinnen | we will reflect |
| ihr | werdet besinnen | you (pl.) will reflect |
| sie/Sie | werden besinnen | they will reflect |
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 besonnen haben | I will have reflected |
| du | wirst besonnen haben | you will have reflected |
| er/sie/es | wird besonnen haben | he/she/it will have reflected |
| wir | werden besonnen haben | we will have reflected |
| ihr | werdet besonnen haben | you (pl.) will have reflected |
| sie/Sie | werden besonnen haben | they will have reflected |
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 | besänne |
| du | besännest |
| er/sie/es | besänne |
| wir | besännen |
| ihr | besännet |
| sie/Sie | besännen |
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 | besinne |
| ihr | besinnt |