Bestellen Conjugation in German
bestellen means “to order” in English, and it is a verb German learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of bestellen — 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 bestelle eine Pizza im Restaurant.” — “I order a pizza in the restaurant.” 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 bestellen 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: bestellen
- English: to order
- Verb type: Weak verb
- Irregular in: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative
- Present participle (Partizip I): bestellend
- Past participle (Partizip II): bestellt
- 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 bestellen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for bestellen. 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 | bestelle |
| du | bestellst |
| er/sie/es | bestellt |
| wir | bestellen |
| ihr | bestellt |
| sie/Sie | bestellen |
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bestellte |
| du | bestelltest |
| er/sie/es | bestellte |
| wir | bestellten |
| ihr | bestelltet |
| sie/Sie | bestellten |
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe bestellt |
| du | hast bestellt |
| er/sie/es | hat bestellt |
| wir | haben bestellt |
| ihr | habt bestellt |
| sie/Sie | haben bestellt |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte bestellt |
| du | hattest bestellt |
| er/sie/es | hatte bestellt |
| wir | hatten bestellt |
| ihr | hattet bestellt |
| sie/Sie | hatten bestellt |
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde bestellen |
| du | wirst bestellen |
| er/sie/es | wird bestellen |
| wir | werden bestellen |
| ihr | werdet bestellen |
| sie/Sie | werden bestellen |
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde bestellt haben |
| du | wirst bestellt haben |
| er/sie/es | wird bestellt haben |
| wir | werden bestellt haben |
| ihr | werdet bestellt haben |
| sie/Sie | werden bestellt haben |
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bestelle |
| du | bestellest |
| er/sie/es | bestelle |
| wir | bestellen |
| ihr | bestellet |
| sie/Sie | bestellen |
Konjunktiv II
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bestellte |
| du | bestelltest |
| er/sie/es | bestellte |
| wir | bestellten |
| ihr | bestelltet |
| sie/Sie | bestellten |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hätte bestellt |
| du | hättest bestellt |
| er/sie/es | hätte bestellt |
| wir | hätten bestellt |
| ihr | hättet bestellt |
| sie/Sie | hätten bestellt |
Imperative (Imperativ)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | bestell |
| wir | bestellen |
| ihr | bestellt |
| sie/Sie | bestellen |
Participles and infinitive
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle (Partizip I) | bestellend |
| Past participle (Partizip II) | bestellt |
| Infinitive | bestellen |
When to use each tense
Present (Präsens)
The present tense is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With bestellen 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 bestelle eine Pizza im Restaurant.” — “I order a pizza in the restaurant.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past, especially in writing and narration. With bestellen 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 bestelltest eine Pizza im Restaurant.” — “You ordered a pizza in the restaurant.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
The Perfekt is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. With bestellen it is formed with haben + the past participle bestellt. For example: “Er hat eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellt.” — “He has ordered a pizza in the restaurant.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
The Plusquamperfekt is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellt.” — “We had ordered a pizza in the restaurant.”
Future (Futur I)
The Futur I is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Ihr werdet eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellen.” — “You will order a pizza in the restaurant.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
The Futur II is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Sie werden eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellt haben.” — “They will have ordered a pizza in the restaurant.”
Konjunktiv I
The Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich eine Pizza im Restaurant bestelle.” — “It is important that I order a pizza in the restaurant.”
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 bestelltest eine Pizza im Restaurant.” — “You would order a pizza in the restaurant if you could.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellt.” — “He would have ordered a pizza in the restaurant if he had been able to.”
Imperative (Imperativ)
The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. With bestellen 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: “Bestell eine Pizza im Restaurant!” — “Order a pizza in the restaurant!”
Participles and infinitive
The present participle is bestellend — “while ordering” — used as an adjective or adverb. The past participle is bestellt, used with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe bestellt. The infinitive is bestellen.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with bestellen, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich bestelle eine Pizza im Restaurant.” — “I order a pizza in the restaurant.”
- “Du bestellst eine Pizza im Restaurant.” — “You order a pizza in the restaurant.”
- “Er bestellte eine Pizza im Restaurant.” — “He ordered a pizza in the restaurant.”
- “Ich habe eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellt.” — “I have ordered a pizza in the restaurant.”
- “Er hatte eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellt.” — “He had ordered a pizza in the restaurant.”
- “Wir werden eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellen.” — “We will order a pizza in the restaurant.”
- “Ich werde eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellt haben.” — “I will have ordered a pizza in the restaurant.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass ich eine Pizza im Restaurant bestelle.” — “It is important that I order a pizza in the restaurant.”
- “Ich bestellte eine Pizza im Restaurant.” — “I would order a pizza in the restaurant if I could.”
- “Bestell eine Pizza im Restaurant!” — “Order a pizza in the restaurant!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich bestellen eine Pizza im Restaurant.”
✓ Right: “Ich bestelle eine Pizza im Restaurant.”
The infinitive bestellen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form bestelle.
2. Confusing bestellen with servieren
✗ Wrong: “Ich servieren eine Pizza im Restaurant.” (using the wrong verb)
✓ Right: “Ich bestelle eine Pizza im Restaurant.”
bestellen means “to order”; servieren means “to serve”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Applying the regular pattern to bestellen
✗ Wrong: “Ich bestellte eine Pizza im Restaurant.” (a guessed regular preterite)
✓ Right: “Ich bestellte eine Pizza im Restaurant.”
bestellen is irregular in present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The preterite form for ich is bestellte, 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 eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellst.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellest.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use bestellest here, not the indicative bestellst.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “Ich bestelle eine Pizza im Restaurant.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe eine Pizza im Restaurant bestellt.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the Perfekt (habe bestellt), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the ich form of bestellen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) bestellen
- B) bestellt
- C) bestellst
- D) bestelle
What is the er/sie/es form of bestellen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) bestellen
- B) bestellt
- C) bestelle
- D) bestellst
What is the ich form of bestellen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) bestelltet
- B) bestelltest
- C) bestellte
- D) bestellten
What is the ich form of bestellen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) haben bestellt
- B) habe bestellt
- C) hat bestellt
- D) hast bestellt
What is the wir form of bestellen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatten bestellt
- B) hatte bestellt
- C) hattest bestellt
- D) hattet bestellt
What is the du form of bestellen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werden bestellen
- B) wirst bestellen
- C) werde bestellen
- D) werdet bestellen
What is the ich form of bestellen in the Future perfect (Futur II)?
- A) werde bestellt haben
- B) werdet bestellt haben
- C) wirst bestellt haben
- D) wird bestellt haben
What is the ich form of bestellen in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) bestelltest
- B) bestellten
- C) bestellte
- D) bestelltet
What is the past participle of bestellen?
- A) bestelle
- B) bestellte
- C) bestellend
- D) bestellt
What does bestellen mean in English?
- A) to come
- B) to serve
- C) to do
- D) to order
Answer key
- D) bestelle — the ich form of bestellen in the present tense is bestelle.
- B) bestellt — the er/sie/es form of bestellen in the present tense is bestellt.
- C) bestellte — the ich form of bestellen in the preterite is bestellte.
- B) habe bestellt — the ich form of bestellen in the Perfekt is habe bestellt.
- A) hatten bestellt — the wir form of bestellen in the Plusquamperfekt is hatten bestellt.
- B) wirst bestellen — the du form of bestellen in the Futur I is wirst bestellen.
- A) werde bestellt haben — the ich form of bestellen in the Futur II is werde bestellt haben.
- C) bestellte — the ich form of bestellen in the Konjunktiv II is bestellte.
- D) bestellt — the past participle of bestellen is bestellt; perfect tenses use haben + bestellt.
- D) to order — bestellen means “to order” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does bestellen mean in English?
bestellen means “to order”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Ich bestelle eine Pizza im Restaurant.” (“I order a pizza in the restaurant.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is bestellen regular or irregular?
bestellen is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is bestellend and the past participle is bestellt.
What are the participles of bestellen?
The present participle is bestellend and the past participle is bestellt — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe bestellt.
What is the difference between bestellen and servieren?
bestellen means “to order”, while servieren means “to serve”. 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 servieren and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I order” in German?
Say “Ich bestelle eine Pizza im Restaurant.” — “I order a pizza in the restaurant.” The ich form of the present is bestelle, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn bestellen
Start with the present tense: bestelle, bestellst, bestellt, bestellen, bestellt, bestellen. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the Perfekt — habe bestellt — and the Präteritum — bestellte. Next, learn the future (werde bestellen) and the Konjunktiv II (bestellte), which also does the work of the conditional. Finally, tackle Konjunktiv I (bestelle) and the imperative (bestell). 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
- bestellen in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- bestellen 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 bestellen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise bestellen with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.