büßen — German conjugation
to atone
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Regular
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 | büße | I atone |
| du | büßt | you atone |
| er/sie/es | büßt | he/she/it atones |
| wir | büßen | we atone |
| ihr | büßt | you (pl.) atone |
| sie/Sie | büßen | they atone |
Simple past (Präteritum) Regular
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 | büßte | I atoned |
| du | büßtest | you atoned |
| er/sie/es | büßte | he/she/it atoned |
| wir | büßten | we atoned |
| ihr | büßtet | you (pl.) atoned |
| sie/Sie | büßten | they atoned |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Regular
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 gebüßt | I have atoned |
| du | hast gebüßt | you have atoned |
| er/sie/es | hat gebüßt | he/she/it has atoned |
| wir | haben gebüßt | we have atoned |
| ihr | habt gebüßt | you (pl.) have atoned |
| sie/Sie | haben gebüßt | they have atoned |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Regular
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 gebüßt | I had atoned |
| du | hattest gebüßt | you had atoned |
| er/sie/es | hatte gebüßt | he/she/it had atoned |
| wir | hatten gebüßt | we had atoned |
| ihr | hattet gebüßt | you (pl.) had atoned |
| sie/Sie | hatten gebüßt | they had atoned |
Future I (Futur I) Regular
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 büßen | I will atone |
| du | wirst büßen | you will atone |
| er/sie/es | wird büßen | he/she/it will atone |
| wir | werden büßen | we will atone |
| ihr | werdet büßen | you (pl.) will atone |
| sie/Sie | werden büßen | they will atone |
Future II (Futur II) Regular
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 gebüßt haben | I will have atoned |
| du | wirst gebüßt haben | you will have atoned |
| er/sie/es | wird gebüßt haben | he/she/it will have atoned |
| wir | werden gebüßt haben | we will have atoned |
| ihr | werdet gebüßt haben | you (pl.) will have atoned |
| sie/Sie | werden gebüßt haben | they will have atoned |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Regular
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 | büßte |
| du | büßtest |
| er/sie/es | büßte |
| wir | büßten |
| ihr | büßtet |
| sie/Sie | büßten |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Regular
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 | büße |
| ihr | büßt |