bleiben — German conjugation
to stay
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 | bleibe | I stay |
| du | bleibst | you stay |
| er/sie/es | bleibt | he/she/it stays |
| wir | bleiben | we stay |
| ihr | bleibt | you (pl.) stay |
| sie/Sie | bleiben | they stay |
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 | blieb | I stayed |
| du | bliebst | you stayed |
| er/sie/es | blieb | he/she/it stayed |
| wir | blieben | we stayed |
| ihr | bliebt | you (pl.) stayed |
| sie/Sie | blieben | they stayed |
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 | bin geblieben | I have stayed |
| du | bist geblieben | you have stayed |
| er/sie/es | ist geblieben | he/she/it has stayed |
| wir | sind geblieben | we have stayed |
| ihr | seid geblieben | you (pl.) have stayed |
| sie/Sie | sind geblieben | they have stayed |
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 | war geblieben | I had stayed |
| du | warst geblieben | you had stayed |
| er/sie/es | war geblieben | he/she/it had stayed |
| wir | waren geblieben | we had stayed |
| ihr | wart geblieben | you (pl.) had stayed |
| sie/Sie | waren geblieben | they had stayed |
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 bleiben | I will stay |
| du | wirst bleiben | you will stay |
| er/sie/es | wird bleiben | he/she/it will stay |
| wir | werden bleiben | we will stay |
| ihr | werdet bleiben | you (pl.) will stay |
| sie/Sie | werden bleiben | they will stay |
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 geblieben sein | I will have stayed |
| du | wirst geblieben sein | you will have stayed |
| er/sie/es | wird geblieben sein | he/she/it will have stayed |
| wir | werden geblieben sein | we will have stayed |
| ihr | werdet geblieben sein | you (pl.) will have stayed |
| sie/Sie | werden geblieben sein | they will have stayed |
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 | bliebe |
| du | bliebest |
| er/sie/es | bliebe |
| wir | blieben |
| ihr | bliebet |
| sie/Sie | blieben |
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 | bleibe |
| ihr | bleibt |