Bekommen Conjugation in German
bekommen means “to get” in English, and it is a verb German learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of bekommen — every tense, every person, the participles and the infinitive — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Ich bekomme ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” — “I get a present for my birthday.” Learning the forms on this page first, before you try to use the verb in conversation, saves you from guessing later: German endings change with the person and the tense, and bekommen is no exception. Work through the tables one tense at a time, say each form aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: bekommen
- English: to get
- Verb type: Strong verb
- Irregular in: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative
- Present participle (Partizip I): bekommend
- Past participle (Partizip II): bekommen
- Auxiliary: haben (all perfect tenses are formed with haben + the past participle)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for bekommen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
bekommen is a strong verb: its preterite (bekam) and its past participle (bekommen) do not follow the weak -te pattern, so learn them as a set. The present tense itself keeps the plain stem in every person.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for bekommen. Learn the present tense first, then the Perfekt and the Präteritum, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present (Präsens)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bekomme |
| du | bekommst |
| er/sie/es | bekommt |
| wir | bekommen |
| ihr | bekommt |
| sie/Sie | bekommen |
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bekam |
| du | bekamst |
| er/sie/es | bekam |
| wir | bekamen |
| ihr | bekamt |
| sie/Sie | bekamen |
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe bekommen |
| du | hast bekommen |
| er/sie/es | hat bekommen |
| wir | haben bekommen |
| ihr | habt bekommen |
| sie/Sie | haben bekommen |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte bekommen |
| du | hattest bekommen |
| er/sie/es | hatte bekommen |
| wir | hatten bekommen |
| ihr | hattet bekommen |
| sie/Sie | hatten bekommen |
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde bekommen |
| du | wirst bekommen |
| er/sie/es | wird bekommen |
| wir | werden bekommen |
| ihr | werdet bekommen |
| sie/Sie | werden bekommen |
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde bekommen haben |
| du | wirst bekommen haben |
| er/sie/es | wird bekommen haben |
| wir | werden bekommen haben |
| ihr | werdet bekommen haben |
| sie/Sie | werden bekommen haben |
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bekomme |
| du | bekommest |
| er/sie/es | bekomme |
| wir | bekommen |
| ihr | bekommet |
| sie/Sie | bekommen |
Konjunktiv II
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bekäme |
| du | bekämest |
| er/sie/es | bekäme |
| wir | bekämen |
| ihr | bekämet |
| sie/Sie | bekämen |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hätte bekommen |
| du | hättest bekommen |
| er/sie/es | hätte bekommen |
| wir | hätten bekommen |
| ihr | hättet bekommen |
| sie/Sie | hätten bekommen |
Imperative (Imperativ)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | bekomm |
| wir | bekommen |
| ihr | bekommt |
| sie/Sie | bekommen |
Participles and infinitive
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle (Partizip I) | bekommend |
| Past participle (Partizip II) | bekommen |
| Infinitive | bekommen |
When to use each tense
Present (Präsens)
The present tense is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With bekommen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ich bekomme ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” — “I get a present for my birthday.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past, especially in writing and narration. With bekommen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Du bekamst ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” — “You got a present for my birthday.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
The Perfekt is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. With bekommen it is formed with haben + the past participle bekommen. For example: “Er hat ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommen.” — “He has got a present for my birthday.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
The Plusquamperfekt is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommen.” — “We had got a present for my birthday.”
Future (Futur I)
The Futur I is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Ihr werdet ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommen.” — “You will get a present for my birthday.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
The Futur II is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Sie werden ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommen haben.” — “They will have got a present for my birthday.”
Konjunktiv I
The Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekomme.” — “It is important that I get a present for my birthday.”
Konjunktiv II
The Konjunktiv II is used for wishes, polite requests and hypothetical situations — it also doubles as the conditional. There is no separate würde tense in the tables: the Konjunktiv II forms below do the work of the conditional, and würde + infinitive is the periphrastic alternative you will hear in speech. For example: “Du bekämest ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” — “You would get a present for my birthday if you could.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommen.” — “He would have got a present for my birthday if he had been able to.”
Imperative (Imperativ)
The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. With bekommen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Bekomm ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag!” — “Get a present for my birthday!”
Participles and infinitive
The present participle is bekommend — “while getting” — used as an adjective or adverb. The past participle is bekommen, used with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe bekommen. The infinitive is bekommen.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with bekommen, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich bekomme ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” — “I get a present for my birthday.”
- “Du bekommst ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” — “You get a present for my birthday.”
- “Er bekam ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” — “He got a present for my birthday.”
- “Ich habe ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommen.” — “I have got a present for my birthday.”
- “Er hatte ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommen.” — “He had got a present for my birthday.”
- “Wir werden ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommen.” — “We will get a present for my birthday.”
- “Ich werde ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommen haben.” — “I will have got a present for my birthday.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass ich ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekomme.” — “It is important that I get a present for my birthday.”
- “Ich bekäme ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” — “I would get a present for my birthday if I could.”
- “Bekomm ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag!” — “Get a present for my birthday!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich bekommen ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.”
✓ Right: “Ich bekomme ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.”
The infinitive bekommen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form bekomme.
2. Confusing bekommen with empfangen
✗ Wrong: “Ich empfangen ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” (using the wrong verb)
✓ Right: “Ich bekomme ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.”
bekommen means “to get”; empfangen means “to receive”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Applying the regular pattern to bekommen
✗ Wrong: “Ich bekommte ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” (a guessed regular preterite)
✓ Right: “Ich bekam ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.”
bekommen is irregular in present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The preterite form for ich is bekam, not what the regular -te endings would give — learn it as a set.
4. Using the indicative after a Konjunktiv I trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommst.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommest.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use bekommest here, not the indicative bekommst.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “Ich bekomme ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag bekommen.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the Perfekt (habe bekommen), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the ich form of bekommen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) bekommen
- B) bekomme
- C) bekommst
- D) bekommt
What is the er/sie/es form of bekommen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) bekomme
- B) bekommst
- C) bekommen
- D) bekommt
What is the ich form of bekommen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) bekamt
- B) bekam
- C) bekamst
- D) bekamen
What is the ich form of bekommen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) hat bekommen
- B) habe bekommen
- C) habt bekommen
- D) haben bekommen
What is the wir form of bekommen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatte bekommen
- B) hattest bekommen
- C) hatten bekommen
- D) hattet bekommen
What is the du form of bekommen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werde bekommen
- B) wird bekommen
- C) wirst bekommen
- D) werdet bekommen
What is the ich form of bekommen in the Future perfect (Futur II)?
- A) wird bekommen haben
- B) werden bekommen haben
- C) werde bekommen haben
- D) werdet bekommen haben
What is the ich form of bekommen in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) bekämest
- B) bekäme
- C) bekämen
- D) bekämet
What is the past participle of bekommen?
- A) bekommend
- B) bekommen
- C) bekam
- D) bekomme
What does bekommen mean in English?
- A) to come
- B) to receive
- C) to do
- D) to get
Answer key
- B) bekomme — the ich form of bekommen in the present tense is bekomme.
- D) bekommt — the er/sie/es form of bekommen in the present tense is bekommt.
- B) bekam — the ich form of bekommen in the preterite is bekam.
- B) habe bekommen — the ich form of bekommen in the Perfekt is habe bekommen.
- C) hatten bekommen — the wir form of bekommen in the Plusquamperfekt is hatten bekommen.
- C) wirst bekommen — the du form of bekommen in the Futur I is wirst bekommen.
- C) werde bekommen haben — the ich form of bekommen in the Futur II is werde bekommen haben.
- B) bekäme — the ich form of bekommen in the Konjunktiv II is bekäme.
- B) bekommen — the past participle of bekommen is bekommen; perfect tenses use haben + bekommen.
- D) to get — bekommen means “to get” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does bekommen mean in English?
bekommen means “to get”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Ich bekomme ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” (“I get a present for my birthday.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is bekommen regular or irregular?
bekommen is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is bekommend and the past participle is bekommen.
What are the participles of bekommen?
The present participle is bekommend and the past participle is bekommen — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe bekommen.
What is the difference between bekommen and empfangen?
bekommen means “to get”, while empfangen means “to receive”. They are easy to mix up because they appear in similar situations, but their meanings are different. If you are unsure, check the full conjugation page for empfangen and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I get” in German?
Say “Ich bekomme ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag.” — “I get a present for my birthday.” The ich form of the present is bekomme, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn bekommen
Start with the present tense: bekomme, bekommst, bekommt, bekommen, bekommt, bekommen. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the Perfekt — habe bekommen — and the Präteritum — bekam. Next, learn the future (werde bekommen) and the Konjunktiv II (bekäme), which also does the work of the conditional. Finally, tackle Konjunktiv I (bekomme) and the imperative (bekomm). Write one sentence of your own in each tense, using the examples above as models, and check every form against the tables. When you can produce all six persons of the present without looking, move on to the quiz.
Related pages
- bekommen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the Perfekt tense.
- bekommen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- Einladen conjugation — another German verb to practise with.
- Treffen conjugation — another German verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise bekommen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise bekommen with the interactive tool.
- Perfect Tenses Builder — practise the perfect tenses with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.