Bekommen ("to get, to receive") is one of the most useful verbs in everyday German — you get a coffee, a present, an email, a cold, a child, an idea. It is a strong verb built from kommen ("to come") plus the inseparable prefix be-. Like all inseparable strong verbs, its Partizip II has no ge- (bekommen, identical to the infinitive), and it forms the Perfekt with haben, not sein — even though the base verb kommen takes sein. And it hides the single most dangerous false friend in beginner German: bekommen does NOT mean "to become." That is werden.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Präteritum | Partizip II (auxiliary) |
|---|---|---|
| bekommen | bekam | bekommen (hat) |
Read this as bekommen – bekam – hat bekommen. The infinitive and the participle look identical (bekommen), so context and the auxiliary tell them apart. Note the auxiliary is haben: bekommen describes acquiring something (a transitive idea), so it does not take sein the way motion verb kommen (ist gekommen) does.
Präsens (present)
The stem is bekomm- with the regular endings. There is no vowel change in the present — the du- and er-forms are simply bekommst and bekommt.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bekomme |
| du | bekommst |
| er / sie / es | bekommt |
| wir | bekommen |
| ihr | bekommt |
| sie / Sie | bekommen |
Was bekommen Sie?
What would you like? / What can I get you? (the standard line from a waiter or shop assistant; formal)
Ich bekomme jeden Morgen eine E-Mail von meinem Chef.
I get an email from my boss every morning. (informal)
Präteritum (simple past)
The strong vowel shift gives the stem bekam- (o → a). The ich- and er-forms take no ending.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bekam |
| du | bekamst |
| er / sie / es | bekam |
| wir | bekamen |
| ihr | bekamt |
| sie / Sie | bekamen |
Zum Geburtstag bekam sie ein Fahrrad.
For her birthday she got a bicycle. (Präteritum, natural in narration)
Perfekt (present perfect)
Built with haben + bekommen. This is the everyday spoken past.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe bekommen |
| du | hast bekommen |
| er / sie / es | hat bekommen |
| wir | haben bekommen |
| ihr | habt bekommen |
| sie / Sie | haben bekommen |
Hast du meine Nachricht bekommen?
Did you get my message? (informal)
Wir haben gestern endlich die Zusage bekommen.
We finally got the approval yesterday. (informal/neutral)
Plusquamperfekt (past perfect)
Past form of the auxiliary (hatte) + bekommen.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte bekommen |
| du | hattest bekommen |
| er / sie / es | hatte bekommen |
| wir | hatten bekommen |
| ihr | hattet bekommen |
| sie / Sie | hatten bekommen |
Als ich anrief, hatte sie die Stelle schon bekommen.
By the time I called, she had already gotten the job.
Futur I
werden + infinitive bekommen.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde bekommen |
| du | wirst bekommen |
| er / sie / es | wird bekommen |
| wir | werden bekommen |
| ihr | werdet bekommen |
| sie / Sie | werden bekommen |
Keine Sorge, du wirst dein Geld zurückbekommen.
Don't worry, you'll get your money back. (informal)
Imperativ (commands)
The imperative is rare for bekommen (you can't easily command someone to receive), but the forms exist.
| Addressee | Form |
|---|---|
| du | bekomm(e) |
| ihr | bekommt |
| Sie | bekommen Sie |
Konjunktiv II (would get / received, hypothetical)
The synthetic Konjunktiv II is bekäme (umlaut on the past stem bekam). It is fully alive in everyday speech, alongside the würde-form.
| Person | Synthetic | würde-form |
|---|---|---|
| ich | bekäme | würde bekommen |
| du | bekämest | würdest bekommen |
| er / sie / es | bekäme | würde bekommen |
| wir | bekämen | würden bekommen |
| ihr | bekämet | würdet bekommen |
| sie / Sie | bekämen | würden bekommen |
Wenn ich die Stelle bekäme, würde ich nach Hamburg ziehen.
If I got the job, I'd move to Hamburg. (informal; synthetic bekäme is natural here)
Government and the great false friend
Bekommen takes a direct object in the accusative: the thing you receive. Ich bekomme einen Brief ("I'm getting a letter"). There is often also a dative beneficiary in fuller sentences (Ich bekomme von dir ein Buch), but the core valency is accusative.
The false friend is the most important fact on this page. English "become" looks and sounds like bekommen, but they are opposites in meaning:
- bekommen = to get / receive something. Takes an object.
- werden = to become / turn into something. Links to a predicate.
So Ich werde Lehrer = "I'm becoming a teacher", while Ich bekomme einen Lehrer = "I'm getting a teacher (assigned)". An English speaker who says Ich bekomme müde has tried to say "I'm getting tired" but produced something closer to "I'm receiving tired", which is nonsense — the correct form is Ich werde müde. See werden for the verb of becoming.
Mir wird schlecht — ich bekomme keine Luft.
I'm feeling sick — I can't get any air. (mir wird = becoming; ich bekomme = getting; informal)
Sie bekommt im Juli ein Kind.
She's having a baby in July. (ein Kind bekommen = to have/be expecting a baby; neutral)
bekommen vs. erhalten vs. kriegen
All three mean "receive". Erhalten is the formal, written register (Wir haben Ihre Bewerbung erhalten — "We have received your application"). Bekommen is the neutral everyday word. Kriegen is the colloquial, very common spoken variant (Ich krieg gleich Hunger). Use bekommen as your default; recognize the other two.
Common idioms and fixed expressions
| Expression | English |
|---|---|
| ein Kind bekommen | to have a baby |
| Angst / Hunger / Durst bekommen | to get scared / hungry / thirsty |
| eine Erkältung bekommen | to catch a cold |
| etwas in den Griff bekommen | to get something under control |
| Was bekommen Sie (von mir)? | What do I owe you? (paying a bill; formal) |
Common Mistakes
❌ Ich bekomme müde.
False friend — bekommen means 'receive', not 'become'. To say you're getting tired, use werden.
✅ Ich werde müde.
I'm getting tired.
❌ Ich habe das Paket gebekommen.
Incorrect — bekommen is inseparable, so the participle takes NO ge- and equals the infinitive: bekommen.
✅ Ich habe das Paket bekommen.
I got the package.
❌ Ich bin eine SMS bekommen.
Incorrect auxiliary — bekommen is transitive and uses haben, not sein.
✅ Ich habe eine SMS bekommen.
I got a text.
❌ Sie bekommt zum Geburtstag glücklich.
Confused with werden — to say she's getting happy, you need wird (becoming a state), not bekommt (receiving an object).
✅ Sie wird zum Geburtstag immer fröhlich.
She always gets cheerful on her birthday.
Key Takeaways
- Principal parts: bekommen – bekam – hat bekommen (auxiliary haben, unlike kommen which takes sein).
- Inseparable prefix be- → participle has no ge- and equals the infinitive: bekommen.
- No vowel change in the present; the o → a shift happens only in the past (bekam).
- Government is accusative (the thing received).
- The big trap: bekommen ≠ "become". "Become" is werden.
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- Inseparable Prefix VerbsA2 — The eight prefixes that never split, never take ge-, and are stressed on the stem: be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, zer-.
- Inseparable Verb Prefixes (be-, ver-, er-, ent-, zer-)B1 — What the inseparable prefixes be-, ver-, er-, ent-, zer-, miss- and emp- contribute to a verb's meaning, and the mechanical rules that set them apart from separable prefixes.
- Past Participles of Strong Verbs (ge-...-en)A2 — How strong German verbs form their past participle with ge-...-en and a changed stem vowel, grouped by ablaut series.
- erhalten: Full Conjugation and UsageB2 — Complete conjugation of the inseparable strong verb erhalten 'to receive / to maintain' across every tense and mood, with principal parts, the a→ä present shift, the no-ge- participle, the bekommen contrast, and the errors English speakers make.
- werden: Full Conjugation and UsageA1 — Complete conjugation of werden across every tense and mood, plus its three jobs — full verb 'become', future auxiliary, and passive auxiliary — with the auxiliary trap that catches English speakers.
- geben: Full Conjugation and UsageA1 — Complete conjugation of geben 'to give' across every tense and mood, including the e→i stem change, the crucial 'es gibt' construction, dative-plus-accusative valency, and the errors English speakers make.