betreten — German conjugation
to enter, to go or come into
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 | betrete | I enter |
| du | betrittst | you enter |
| er/sie/es | betritt | he/she/it enters |
| wir | betreten | we enter |
| ihr | betretet | you (pl.) enter |
| sie/Sie | betreten | they enter |
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 | betrat | I entered |
| du | betratest | you entered |
| er/sie/es | betrat | he/she/it entered |
| wir | betraten | we entered |
| ihr | betratet | you (pl.) entered |
| sie/Sie | betraten | they entered |
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 betreten | I have entered |
| du | hast betreten | you have entered |
| er/sie/es | hat betreten | he/she/it has entered |
| wir | haben betreten | we have entered |
| ihr | habt betreten | you (pl.) have entered |
| sie/Sie | haben betreten | they have entered |
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 betreten | I had entered |
| du | hattest betreten | you had entered |
| er/sie/es | hatte betreten | he/she/it had entered |
| wir | hatten betreten | we had entered |
| ihr | hattet betreten | you (pl.) had entered |
| sie/Sie | hatten betreten | they had entered |
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 betreten | I will enter |
| du | wirst betreten | you will enter |
| er/sie/es | wird betreten | he/she/it will enter |
| wir | werden betreten | we will enter |
| ihr | werdet betreten | you (pl.) will enter |
| sie/Sie | werden betreten | they will enter |
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 betreten haben | I will have entered |
| du | wirst betreten haben | you will have entered |
| er/sie/es | wird betreten haben | he/she/it will have entered |
| wir | werden betreten haben | we will have entered |
| ihr | werdet betreten haben | you (pl.) will have entered |
| sie/Sie | werden betreten haben | they will have entered |
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 | beträte |
| du | beträtest |
| er/sie/es | beträte |
| wir | beträten |
| ihr | beträtet |
| sie/Sie | beträten |
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 | betritt |
| ihr | betretet |