Bleiben Conjugation in German
bleiben means “to stay” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 34 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You will meet it in everyday sentences such as “Ich bleibe heute zu Hause.” — “I stay at home today.” — and because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of bleiben — every tense, every person, the present participle and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: bleiben
- English: to stay
- Verb type: Irregular
- Irregular in: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative
- Present participle (Partizip I): bleibend
- Past participle (Partizip II): geblieben
- Auxiliary: sein (all perfect tenses are formed with sein + the past participle)
- Pattern: strong in the verified tables
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for bleiben, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read bleiben in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about bleiben
- It is irregular in 4 tense(s): present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Learn those forms as a set rather than guessing them from the infinitive, because the regular pattern will not produce them.
- The perfect tenses use sein: the Perfekt is formed with sein in the present plus the past participle geblieben. The tables on this page give the participle in the form exactly as it appears in the verified dump; the participle itself does not change for person, only the auxiliary does.
- The participles are bleibend and geblieben: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the present participle appears as an adjective and the past participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for bleiben. Learn the present tense first, then the Perfekt and the preterite, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present (Präsens)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bleibe |
| du | bleibst |
| er/sie/es | bleibt |
| wir | bleiben |
| ihr | bleibt |
| sie/Sie | bleiben |
The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With bleiben 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 bleibe eine Woche in Berlin.” — “I stay a week in Berlin.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | blieb |
| du | bliebst |
| er/sie/es | blieb |
| wir | blieben |
| ihr | bliebt |
| sie/Sie | blieben |
The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. With bleiben 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 bliebst eine Woche in Berlin.” — “You stayed a week in Berlin.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bin geblieben |
| du | bist geblieben |
| er/sie/es | ist geblieben |
| wir | sind geblieben |
| ihr | seid geblieben |
| sie/Sie | sind geblieben |
The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er ist eine Woche in Berlin geblieben.” — “He has stayed a week in Berlin.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | war geblieben |
| du | warst geblieben |
| er/sie/es | war geblieben |
| wir | waren geblieben |
| ihr | wart geblieben |
| sie/Sie | waren geblieben |
The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Ich war eine Woche in Berlin geblieben.” — “I had stayed a week in Berlin.”
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde bleiben |
| du | wirst bleiben |
| er/sie/es | wird bleiben |
| wir | werden bleiben |
| ihr | werdet bleiben |
| sie/Sie | werden bleiben |
The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for intentions. For example: “Ich werde eine Woche in Berlin bleiben.” — “I will stay a week in Berlin.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde geblieben sein |
| du | wirst geblieben sein |
| er/sie/es | wird geblieben sein |
| wir | werden geblieben sein |
| ihr | werdet geblieben sein |
| sie/Sie | werden geblieben sein |
The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst eine Woche in Berlin geblieben sein.” — “You will have stayed a week in Berlin.”
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bleibe |
| du | bleibest |
| er/sie/es | bleibe |
| wir | bleiben |
| ihr | bleibet |
| sie/Sie | bleiben |
Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech — reporting what someone else said — and in formal written German. For example: “Er bleibe eine Woche in Berlin.” — “He stays a week in Berlin.”
Konjunktiv II (conditional)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bliebe |
| du | bliebest |
| er/sie/es | bliebe |
| wir | blieben |
| ihr | bliebet |
| sie/Sie | blieben |
Konjunktiv II is used for hypothetical situations, wishes and polite requests. It doubles as the German conditional: there is no separate conditional tense, and the periphrastic alternative with würde + infinitive is not an engine tense. For example: “Ich bliebe eine Woche in Berlin.” — “I would stay a week in Berlin.”
Conditional perfect (Konjunktiv II + participle)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | wäre geblieben |
| du | wärst geblieben |
| er/sie/es | wäre geblieben |
| wir | wären geblieben |
| ihr | wärt geblieben |
| sie/Sie | wären geblieben |
The conditional perfect (Konjunktiv II + past participle) is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er wäre eine Woche in Berlin geblieben.” — “He would have stayed a week in Berlin.”
Imperative (Imperativ)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | bleib |
| wir | bleiben |
| ihr | bleibt |
| sie/Sie | bleiben |
The imperative (Imperativ) is used for direct commands, requests and instructions. With bleiben 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: “Bleib eine Woche in Berlin!” — “Stay a week in Berlin!”
Present participle (Partizip I)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle (Partizip I) | bleibend |
The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective or adverb, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle bleibend is used to describe something that is happening at the same time as the main action, much like an English -ing adjective.
Past participle (Partizip II)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Past participle (Partizip II) | geblieben |
The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich bin heute zu Hause geblieben.” — “I have stayed at home today.”
Infinitive (Infinitiv)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | bleiben |
The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and other verbs that take an infinitive. The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb: it is the form you look up, and the form that follows modal verbs and other verbs that take an infinitive.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with bleiben, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich bleibe heute zu Hause.” — “I stay at home today.”
- “Du bliebst eine Woche in Berlin.” — “You stayed a week in Berlin.”
- “Er ist bis morgen hier geblieben.” — “He has stayed here until tomorrow.”
- “Ich werde heute zu Hause bleiben.” — “I will stay at home today.”
- “Du bliebest eine Woche in Berlin.” — “You would stay a week in Berlin.”
- “Ich war bis morgen hier geblieben.” — “I had stayed here until tomorrow.”
- “Du wirst eine Woche in Berlin geblieben sein.” — “You will have stayed a week in Berlin.”
- “Er bleibe bis morgen hier.” — “He stays here until tomorrow.”
- “Ich wäre heute zu Hause geblieben.” — “I would have stayed at home today.”
- “Bleib heute zu Hause!” — “Stay at home today!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich bleiben heute zu Hause.”
✓ Right: “Ich bleibe heute zu Hause.”
The infinitive bleiben never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form bleibe.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Ich bleiben heute zu Hause.”
✓ Right: “Ich bleibe heute zu Hause.”
bleiben is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with bleibe.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich bleibe heute zu Hause gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich bin heute zu Hause geblieben.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt bin geblieben, not the present.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich habe heute zu Hause geblieben.”
✓ Right: “Ich bin heute zu Hause geblieben.”
The Perfekt of bleiben is formed with sein plus the past participle geblieben: the ich form is bin geblieben. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
5. Using the preterite where spoken German prefers the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich blieb heute zu Hause gestern.” (in everyday speech)
✓ Right: “Ich bin heute zu Hause geblieben.”
In everyday spoken German the Perfekt bin geblieben is the usual past tense. The preterite blieb is correct in writing and in stories, but it sounds formal in conversation.
6. Using the du form when talking to a group
✗ Wrong: “Bleib heute zu Hause!” (said to several people)
✓ Right: “Bleibt heute zu Hause!”
The du imperative bleib is for one person you know well. For a group, use the ihr form bleibt.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on bleiben. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of bleiben in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) bleiben
- B) bleibe
- C) bleibst
- D) bleibt
What is the er/sie/es form of bleiben in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) blieben
- B) bliebt
- C) blieb
- D) bliebst
What is the er/sie/es form of bleiben in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) bin geblieben
- B) bist geblieben
- C) sind geblieben
- D) ist geblieben
What is the du form of bleiben in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wird bleiben
- B) werden bleiben
- C) wirst bleiben
- D) werde bleiben
What is the ich form of bleiben in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) bliebet
- B) bliebe
- C) bliebest
- D) blieben
What is the wir form of bleiben in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) warst geblieben
- B) wart geblieben
- C) waren geblieben
- D) war geblieben
What is the er/sie/es form of bleiben in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) bleibet
- B) bleibe
- C) bleibest
- D) bleiben
What is the du form of bleiben in the Imperative (Imperativ)?
- A) bleibt
- B) bleibst
- C) bleib
- D) bleiben
What is the past participle of bleiben?
- A) gelegen
- B) geheißen
- C) gedacht
- D) geblieben
What does bleiben mean in English?
- A) to stay
- B) to lie
- C) to be called
- D) to think
Answer key
- B) bleibe — the ich form of bleiben in the Present (Präsens) is bleibe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) blieb — the er/sie/es form of bleiben in the Preterite (Präteritum) is blieb. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) ist geblieben — the er/sie/es form of bleiben in the Perfect (Perfekt) is ist geblieben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) wirst bleiben — the du form of bleiben in the Future (Futur I) is wirst bleiben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) bliebe — the ich form of bleiben in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is bliebe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) waren geblieben — the wir form of bleiben in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is waren geblieben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) bleibe — the er/sie/es form of bleiben in the Konjunktiv I is bleibe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) bleib — the du form of bleiben in the Imperative (Imperativ) is bleib. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) geblieben — the past participle of bleiben is geblieben; it is used with sein in the perfect tenses. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- A) to stay — bleiben means “to stay” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does bleiben mean in English?
bleiben means “to stay”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is bleiben regular or irregular?
bleiben is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is bleibend and the past participle is geblieben.
What are the participles of bleiben?
The present participle (Partizip I) is bleibend — use it as an adjective for an ongoing action. The past participle (Partizip II) is geblieben — use it with sein for the perfect tenses, as in bin geblieben.
Which auxiliary does bleiben take in the Perfekt?
bleiben takes sein in the Perfekt: the ich form is bin geblieben. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with sein plus the past participle geblieben.
Does German have a separate conditional tense?
No. Konjunktiv II doubles as the conditional: the ich form bliebe is the form you use for “would” meanings, and the periphrastic alternative with würde + infinitive is not a separate engine tense. The conditional perfect wäre geblieben covers “would have” meanings.
How do I say “I stay at home today” in German?
Say “Ich bleibe heute zu Hause.” — “I stay at home today.” The ich form of the present is bleibe, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of bleiben — every tense of bleiben in one place.
- Bleiben in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Bleiben examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Liegen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Heißen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Denken conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Conjugator — practise bleiben with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise bleiben with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise bleiben with the interactive tool.