besitzen — German conjugation
to own, to possess
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 | besitze | I own |
| du | besitzt | you own |
| er/sie/es | besitzt | he/she/it owns |
| wir | besitzen | we own |
| ihr | besitzt | you (pl.) own |
| sie/Sie | besitzen | they own |
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 | besaß | I owned |
| du | besaßest | you owned |
| er/sie/es | besaß | he/she/it owned |
| wir | besaßen | we owned |
| ihr | besaßt | you (pl.) owned |
| sie/Sie | besaßen | they owned |
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 besessen | I have owned |
| du | hast besessen | you have owned |
| er/sie/es | hat besessen | he/she/it has owned |
| wir | haben besessen | we have owned |
| ihr | habt besessen | you (pl.) have owned |
| sie/Sie | haben besessen | they have owned |
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 besessen | I had owned |
| du | hattest besessen | you had owned |
| er/sie/es | hatte besessen | he/she/it had owned |
| wir | hatten besessen | we had owned |
| ihr | hattet besessen | you (pl.) had owned |
| sie/Sie | hatten besessen | they had owned |
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 besitzen | I will own |
| du | wirst besitzen | you will own |
| er/sie/es | wird besitzen | he/she/it will own |
| wir | werden besitzen | we will own |
| ihr | werdet besitzen | you (pl.) will own |
| sie/Sie | werden besitzen | they will own |
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 besessen haben | I will have owned |
| du | wirst besessen haben | you will have owned |
| er/sie/es | wird besessen haben | he/she/it will have owned |
| wir | werden besessen haben | we will have owned |
| ihr | werdet besessen haben | you (pl.) will have owned |
| sie/Sie | werden besessen haben | they will have owned |
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 | besäße |
| du | besäßest |
| er/sie/es | besäße |
| wir | besäßen |
| ihr | besäßet |
| sie/Sie | besäßen |
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 | besitze |
| ihr | besitzt |