bringen — German conjugation
to bring
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 | bringe | I bring |
| du | bringst | you bring |
| er/sie/es | bringt | he/she/it brings |
| wir | bringen | we bring |
| ihr | bringt | you (pl.) bring |
| sie/Sie | bringen | they bring |
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 | brachte | I brought |
| du | brachtest | you brought |
| er/sie/es | brachte | he/she/it brought |
| wir | brachten | we brought |
| ihr | brachtet | you (pl.) brought |
| sie/Sie | brachten | they brought |
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 gebracht | I have brought |
| du | hast gebracht | you have brought |
| er/sie/es | hat gebracht | he/she/it has brought |
| wir | haben gebracht | we have brought |
| ihr | habt gebracht | you (pl.) have brought |
| sie/Sie | haben gebracht | they have brought |
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 gebracht | I had brought |
| du | hattest gebracht | you had brought |
| er/sie/es | hatte gebracht | he/she/it had brought |
| wir | hatten gebracht | we had brought |
| ihr | hattet gebracht | you (pl.) had brought |
| sie/Sie | hatten gebracht | they had brought |
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 bringen | I will bring |
| du | wirst bringen | you will bring |
| er/sie/es | wird bringen | he/she/it will bring |
| wir | werden bringen | we will bring |
| ihr | werdet bringen | you (pl.) will bring |
| sie/Sie | werden bringen | they will bring |
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 gebracht haben | I will have brought |
| du | wirst gebracht haben | you will have brought |
| er/sie/es | wird gebracht haben | he/she/it will have brought |
| wir | werden gebracht haben | we will have brought |
| ihr | werdet gebracht haben | you (pl.) will have brought |
| sie/Sie | werden gebracht haben | they will have brought |
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 | brächte |
| du | brächtest |
| er/sie/es | brächte |
| wir | brächten |
| ihr | brächtet |
| sie/Sie | brächten |
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 | bringe |
| ihr | bringt |