bevorstehen — German conjugation
to be imminent
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 | stehe bevor | I am imminent |
| du | stehtst bevor | you are imminent |
| er/sie/es | steht bevor | he/she/it is imminent |
| wir | stehen bevor | we are imminent |
| ihr | steht bevor | you (pl.) are imminent |
| sie/Sie | stehen bevor | they are imminent |
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 | stand bevor | I was imminent |
| du | standest bevor | you were imminent |
| er/sie/es | stand bevor | he/she/it was imminent |
| wir | standen bevor | we were imminent |
| ihr | standet bevor | you (pl.) were imminent |
| sie/Sie | standen bevor | they were imminent |
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 bevorstanden | I have been imminent |
| du | hast bevorstanden | you have been imminent |
| er/sie/es | hat bevorstanden | he/she/it has been imminent |
| wir | haben bevorstanden | we have been imminent |
| ihr | habt bevorstanden | you (pl.) have been imminent |
| sie/Sie | haben bevorstanden | they have been imminent |
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 bevorstanden | I had been imminent |
| du | hattest bevorstanden | you had been imminent |
| er/sie/es | hatte bevorstanden | he/she/it had been imminent |
| wir | hatten bevorstanden | we had been imminent |
| ihr | hattet bevorstanden | you (pl.) had been imminent |
| sie/Sie | hatten bevorstanden | they had been imminent |
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 bevorstehen | I will be imminent |
| du | wirst bevorstehen | you will be imminent |
| er/sie/es | wird bevorstehen | he/she/it will be imminent |
| wir | werden bevorstehen | we will be imminent |
| ihr | werdet bevorstehen | you (pl.) will be imminent |
| sie/Sie | werden bevorstehen | they will be imminent |
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 bevorstanden haben | I will have been imminent |
| du | wirst bevorstanden haben | you will have been imminent |
| er/sie/es | wird bevorstanden haben | he/she/it will have been imminent |
| wir | werden bevorstanden haben | we will have been imminent |
| ihr | werdet bevorstanden haben | you (pl.) will have been imminent |
| sie/Sie | werden bevorstanden haben | they will have been imminent |
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 | stände bevor |
| du | ständest bevor |
| er/sie/es | stände bevor |
| wir | ständen bevor |
| ihr | ständet bevor |
| sie/Sie | ständen bevor |
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 | steht bevor |
| ihr | steht bevor |