bestrafen — German conjugation
to punish
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 | bestrafe | I punish |
| du | bestrafst | you punish |
| er/sie/es | bestraft | he/she/it punishes |
| wir | bestrafen | we punish |
| ihr | bestraft | you (pl.) punish |
| sie/Sie | bestrafen | they punish |
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 | bestrafte | I punished |
| du | bestraftest | you punished |
| er/sie/es | bestrafte | he/she/it punished |
| wir | bestraften | we punished |
| ihr | bestraftet | you (pl.) punished |
| sie/Sie | bestraften | they punished |
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 bestraft | I have punished |
| du | hast bestraft | you have punished |
| er/sie/es | hat bestraft | he/she/it has punished |
| wir | haben bestraft | we have punished |
| ihr | habt bestraft | you (pl.) have punished |
| sie/Sie | haben bestraft | they have punished |
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 bestraft | I had punished |
| du | hattest bestraft | you had punished |
| er/sie/es | hatte bestraft | he/she/it had punished |
| wir | hatten bestraft | we had punished |
| ihr | hattet bestraft | you (pl.) had punished |
| sie/Sie | hatten bestraft | they had punished |
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 bestrafen | I will punish |
| du | wirst bestrafen | you will punish |
| er/sie/es | wird bestrafen | he/she/it will punish |
| wir | werden bestrafen | we will punish |
| ihr | werdet bestrafen | you (pl.) will punish |
| sie/Sie | werden bestrafen | they will punish |
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 bestraft haben | I will have punished |
| du | wirst bestraft haben | you will have punished |
| er/sie/es | wird bestraft haben | he/she/it will have punished |
| wir | werden bestraft haben | we will have punished |
| ihr | werdet bestraft haben | you (pl.) will have punished |
| sie/Sie | werden bestraft haben | they will have punished |
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 | bestrafte |
| du | bestraftest |
| er/sie/es | bestrafte |
| wir | bestraften |
| ihr | bestraftet |
| sie/Sie | bestraften |
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 | bestrafe |
| ihr | bestraft |