The idea
Present tense: ich begegne, du begegnest, er/sie/es begegnet, wir begegnen, ihr begegnet, sie/Sie begegnen. Learn the sentence pattern jemandem begegnen together with the principal parts.
| Form | Deutsch |
|---|---|
| ich | begegne |
| du | begegnest |
| er/sie/es | begegnet |
| wir | begegnen |
| ihr | begegnet |
| sie/Sie | begegnen |
| Präteritum | begegnete |
| Perfekt | ist begegnet |
| Imperativ (du) | Begegne! |
| Muster | jemandem begegnen |
Meaning and sentence pattern
Begegnen often describes an encounter rather than an arranged meeting. The person encountered is dative and the perfect uses sein.
Learn this pattern as a unit: jemandem begegnen. The six situations below show the verb with concrete objects, complements or circumstances.
Form check
Ich habe den Lehrer begegnet.Ich bin dem Lehrer begegnet.Begegnen takes dative and normally uses sein in the perfect.
Examples
- Ich begegne meiner früheren Lehrerin manchmal im Park.I sometimes encounter my former teacher in the park.
- Du begegnest neuen Ideen mit Interesse.You approach new ideas with interest.
- Die Gruppe begegnet unterwegs vielen Radfahrern.The group encounters many cyclists along the way.
- Wir begegneten uns zum ersten Mal in der Bibliothek.We first met each other in the library.
- Sie ist dem Nachbarn gestern am Markt begegnet.She encountered the neighbor at the market yesterday.
- Begegne der neuen Person offen und freundlich.Treat the new person openly and kindly.
Read-aloud uses a synthetic German voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No German device voice is available. You can still read the text and use the linked listening resources.
Watch out
Begegnen takes dative and normally uses sein in the perfect.
Try it yourself
du ___ (begegnen, Präsens)
Show answer or example answer
begegnest
begegnest: this is the second-person singular present form.
er/sie ___ (begegnen, Präteritum)
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begegnete
begegnete: this is the third-person singular simple past.
Perfekt: er/sie ist ___
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begegnet
begegnet: in this use the perfect tense is ist begegnet.
Practice round
Answer three questions, then rebuild three German sentences. We keep your score.
du ___ (begegnen, Präsens)
er/sie ___ (begegnen, Präteritum)
Perfekt: er/sie ist ___
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Read the six situations aloud, compare the verb forms, and complete the present, past and participle checks. Then write a new sentence that follows jemandem begegnen.