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GERMAN VERB

bedienen

to serve; to operate

  • #354 most used
  • Weak verb
  • Past participle: bedient

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

  1. ich I serve
  2. du you serve
  3. er, sie, es he/she serves
  4. wir we serve
  5. ihr you all serve
  6. sie, Sie they serve

Simple past

Präteritum · the past of writing, and of sein, haben and the modals in speech

  1. ich I served
  2. du you served
  3. er, sie, es he/she served
  4. wir we served
  5. ihr you all served
  6. sie, Sie they served

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

  1. ich I have served
  2. du you have served
  3. er, sie, es he/she has served
  4. wir we have served
  5. ihr you all have served
  6. sie, Sie they have served

Future

Futur I · “werden”; in speech the present with “morgen” does the job

  1. ich I will serve
  2. du you will serve
  3. er, sie, es he/she will serve
  4. wir we will serve
  5. ihr you all will serve
  6. sie, Sie they will serve

Conditional

Konjunktiv II · “would”: “würde”, and “wäre”, “hätte”, “könnte”

  1. ich I would serve
  2. du you would serve
  3. er, sie, es he/she would serve
  4. wir we would serve
  5. ihr you all would serve
  6. sie, Sie they would serve

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

  1. du serve!
  2. ihr serve! (all of you)
  3. Sie serve! (formal)

How to use bedienen

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Wer bedient heute Abend die Gäste?

    Who is serving the guests this evening?

  2. Simple past

    Eine sehr nette Kellnerin bediente uns.

    A very nice waitress served us.

  3. Perfect

    Hat man Sie schon bedient?

    Have you been served yet?

  4. Future

    Ich werde heute die Terrasse bedienen.

    I'll be waiting on the terrace today.

  5. Conditional

    Ich würde die Maschine lieber nicht allein bedienen.

    I'd rather not operate the machine on my own.

  6. Imperative

    Bedienen Sie sich bitte, es ist genug da.

    Please help yourselves, there's plenty.

Good to know

  • In a restaurant, bedienen is to serve the guests; with a machine, it is to operate it: Kannst du die Kaffeemaschine bedienen?

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: weak verb.