bitten — German conjugation
to ask, to beg, to plead, to bid, to request
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 | bitte | I ask |
| du | bittest | you ask |
| er/sie/es | bittet | he/she/it asks |
| wir | bitten | we ask |
| ihr | bittet | you (pl.) ask |
| sie/Sie | bitten | they ask |
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 | bat | I asked |
| du | batest | you asked |
| er/sie/es | bat | he/she/it asked |
| wir | baten | we asked |
| ihr | batet | you (pl.) asked |
| sie/Sie | baten | they asked |
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 gebeten | I have asked |
| du | hast gebeten | you have asked |
| er/sie/es | hat gebeten | he/she/it has asked |
| wir | haben gebeten | we have asked |
| ihr | habt gebeten | you (pl.) have asked |
| sie/Sie | haben gebeten | they have asked |
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 gebeten | I had asked |
| du | hattest gebeten | you had asked |
| er/sie/es | hatte gebeten | he/she/it had asked |
| wir | hatten gebeten | we had asked |
| ihr | hattet gebeten | you (pl.) had asked |
| sie/Sie | hatten gebeten | they had asked |
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 bitten | I will ask |
| du | wirst bitten | you will ask |
| er/sie/es | wird bitten | he/she/it will ask |
| wir | werden bitten | we will ask |
| ihr | werdet bitten | you (pl.) will ask |
| sie/Sie | werden bitten | they will ask |
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 gebeten haben | I will have asked |
| du | wirst gebeten haben | you will have asked |
| er/sie/es | wird gebeten haben | he/she/it will have asked |
| wir | werden gebeten haben | we will have asked |
| ihr | werdet gebeten haben | you (pl.) will have asked |
| sie/Sie | werden gebeten haben | they will have asked |
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 | bäte |
| du | bätest |
| er/sie/es | bäte |
| wir | bäten |
| ihr | bätet |
| sie/Sie | bäten |
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 | bitte |
| ihr | bittet |