Bringen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Bringen means “to bring”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in German — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for bringen, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with bringen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich bringe ein Buch für Marie.” — “I bring a book for Marie.”
- “Du bringst den Kindern ein Geschenk.” — “You bring a present for the children.”
- “Ich habe mir einen Kaffee gebracht.” — “I have brought me a coffee.”
- “Er brachte ein Buch für Marie.” — “He brought a book for Marie.”
- “Wir werden den Kindern ein Geschenk bringen.” — “We will bring a present for the children.”
- “Du hast mir einen Kaffee gebracht.” — “You have brought me a coffee.”
- “Ich brächte ein Buch für Marie.” — “I would bring a book for Marie.”
- “Er bringe den Kindern ein Geschenk.” — “He brings a present for the children.”
- “Wir hatten mir einen Kaffee gebracht.” — “We had brought me a coffee.”
- “Er wird ein Buch für Marie bringen.” — “He will bring a book for Marie.”
- “Sie bringen den Kindern ein Geschenk.” — “They bring a present for the children.”
- “Bring mir einen Kaffee!” — “Bring me a coffee!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about a book for Marie. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how bringen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of bringen below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Bringst du ein Buch für Marie?” — “You bring a book for Marie?” Jonas: “Ich bringe ein Buch für Marie.” — “I bring a book for Marie.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde den Kindern ein Geschenk bringen.” — “I will bring a present for the children.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe mir einen Kaffee gebracht.” — “I have brought me a coffee.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich brächte ein Buch für Marie.” — “I would bring a book for Marie.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the Perfekt for yesterday, and Konjunktiv II for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Bringen in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of bringen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, bringen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is bringe: “Ich bringe ein Buch für Marie.” — “I bring a book for Marie.”
The preterite: the past as a finished event
In the preterite, bringen describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is brachte: “Er brachte den Kindern ein Geschenk.” — “He brought a present for the children.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, bringen reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle gebracht. The ich form is habe gebracht: “Ich habe mir einen Kaffee gebracht.” — “I have brought me a coffee.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, bringen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden bringen: “Wir werden ein Buch für Marie bringen.” — “We will bring a book for Marie.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, bringen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is brächtest: “Du brächtest den Kindern ein Geschenk.” — “You would bring a present for the children.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In reported speech, bringen appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is bringe: “Er bringe mir einen Kaffee.” — “He brings me a coffee.” Read it as a quotation — someone said this, and the sentence reports it.
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich bringen ein Buch für Marie.”
✓ Right: “Ich bringe ein Buch für Marie.”
The infinitive bringen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form bringe.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du bringe ein Buch für Marie.”
✓ Right: “Du bringst ein Buch für Marie.”
bringe is the ich form. With du you need bringst. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich bringe ein Buch für Marie gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe ein Buch für Marie gebracht.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gebracht, not the present.
Using the indicative in reported speech
✗ Wrong: “Ich bringe ein Buch für Marie.” (quoted as reported speech)
✓ Right: “Ich bringe ein Buch für Marie.” (quoted as reported speech)
In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: bringe, not the indicative bringe.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich gebracht ein Buch für Marie.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe ein Buch für Marie gebracht.”
The Perfekt of bringen needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gebracht: the full ich form is habe gebracht.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on bringen. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of bringen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) bringen
- B) bringe
- C) bringst
- D) bringt
What is the du form of bringen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) bringe
- B) bringt
- C) bringen
- D) bringst
What is the er/sie/es form of bringen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) habe gebracht
- B) hast gebracht
- C) haben gebracht
- D) hat gebracht
What is the wir form of bringen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) brachtet
- B) brachten
- C) brachte
- D) brachtest
What is the du form of bringen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wird bringen
- B) werden bringen
- C) wirst bringen
- D) werde bringen
What is the ich form of bringen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) brächte
- B) brächtest
- C) brächten
- D) brächtet
What is the er/sie/es form of bringen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) bringet
- B) bringe
- C) bringest
- D) bringen
What is the ich form of bringen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatten gebracht
- B) hattet gebracht
- C) hatte gebracht
- D) hattest gebracht
What is the past participle of bringen?
- A) gebracht
- B) gearbeitet
- C) gespielt
- D) gehört
What does bringen mean in English?
- A) to work
- B) to play
- C) to hear
- D) to bring
Answer key
- B) bringe — the ich form of bringen in the Present (Präsens) is bringe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) bringst — the du form of bringen in the Present (Präsens) is bringst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) hat gebracht — the er/sie/es form of bringen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gebracht. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) brachten — the wir form of bringen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is brachten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) wirst bringen — the du form of bringen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst bringen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) brächte — the ich form of bringen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is brächte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) bringe — the er/sie/es form of bringen in the Konjunktiv I is bringe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hatte gebracht — the ich form of bringen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gebracht. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) gebracht — the past participle of bringen is gebracht. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to bring — bringen means “to bring” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does bringen mean in English?
bringen means “to bring”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is bringen regular or irregular?
bringen is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is bringend and the past participle is gebracht.
How do I practise bringen every day?
Say one sentence with bringen in the present, one in the Perfekt and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Ich bringe ein Buch für Marie.”, “Ich habe ein Buch für Marie gebracht.” and “Ich werde ein Buch für Marie bringen.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for bringen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of bringen — every tense of bringen in one place.
- Bringen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Bringen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Arbeiten conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Spielen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Hören 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 Quiz — practise bringen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise bringen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise bringen with the interactive tool.