Bringen is a high-frequency mixed verb: regular endings, but a stem that changes in the past from bring- to brach- (brachte, gebracht). It is the German cousin of English bring → brought, and the historical sound change is the same one that turns think into thought. Its meaning is broader than English "bring": German bringen covers both "bring (here)" and "take (somewhere away from the speaker)" — direction is supplied by context and prepositions, not by a different verb. As a ditransitive verb it typically takes a dative (the recipient) and an accusative (the thing).
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Präteritum | Partizip II (auxiliary) |
|---|---|---|
| bringen | brachte | gebracht (hat) |
Read this as bringen – brachte – hat gebracht. The endings are weak (-te, ge-…-t); only the stem shifts (bring- → brach-), so it is mixed. The Perfekt auxiliary is haben.
Präsens (present)
Completely regular.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bringe |
| du | bringst |
| er / sie / es | bringt |
| wir | bringen |
| ihr | bringt |
| sie / Sie | bringen |
Bringst du mir bitte ein Glas Wasser?
Could you bring me a glass of water? (informal; mir = dative recipient, ein Glas Wasser = accusative thing)
Der Bus bringt dich direkt zum Bahnhof.
The bus takes you straight to the station. (here bringen = 'take/convey to')
Präteritum (simple past)
The mixed past stem is brachte-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | brachte |
| du | brachtest |
| er / sie / es | brachte |
| wir | brachten |
| ihr | brachtet |
| sie / Sie | brachten |
Der Kellner brachte uns die Rechnung, ohne dass wir fragen mussten.
The waiter brought us the bill without our having to ask.
Ich brachte die Kinder zur Schule und fuhr dann ins Büro.
I took the kids to school and then drove to the office.
Perfekt (present perfect)
Built with the present of haben + gebracht.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe gebracht |
| du | hast gebracht |
| er / sie / es | hat gebracht |
| wir | haben gebracht |
| ihr | habt gebracht |
| sie / Sie | haben gebracht |
Hast du den Müll schon rausgebracht?
Have you already taken out the trash? (informal; separable rausbringen)
Sie hat mir Blumen ins Krankenhaus gebracht.
She brought me flowers to the hospital.
Plusquamperfekt (past perfect)
Past of haben (hatte) + gebracht.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte gebracht |
| du | hattest gebracht |
| er / sie / es | hatte gebracht |
| wir | hatten gebracht |
| ihr | hattet gebracht |
| sie / Sie | hatten gebracht |
Der Bote war schon weg, weil ich das Paket zu spät zur Post gebracht hatte.
The courier had already left, because I had taken the parcel to the post office too late.
Futur I and Futur II
Futur I uses werden + bringen; Futur II uses werden + gebracht haben.
| Person | Futur I | Futur II |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde bringen | werde gebracht haben |
| du | wirst bringen | wirst gebracht haben |
| er / sie / es | wird bringen | wird gebracht haben |
| wir | werden bringen | werden gebracht haben |
| ihr | werdet bringen | werdet gebracht haben |
| sie / Sie | werden bringen | werden gebracht haben |
Ich werde dir das Buch morgen mitbringen, versprochen.
I'll bring you the book tomorrow, I promise. (informal; separable mitbringen)
Imperativ (commands)
| Addressee | Form |
|---|---|
| du | bring(e) |
| ihr | bringt |
| Sie | bringen Sie |
Bring mir bitte noch eine Decke mit, mir ist kalt.
Please bring me another blanket, I'm cold. (informal)
Konjunktiv II (would bring)
The Konjunktiv II takes the past stem brachte plus umlaut: brächte. The synthetic form is alive in writing and careful speech; conversationally würde bringen is common.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | brächte |
| du | brächtest |
| er / sie / es | brächte |
| wir | brächten |
| ihr | brächtet |
| sie / Sie | brächten |
Das brächte uns keinen Schritt weiter.
That wouldn't get us a single step further. (formal/written; idiom 'weiterbringen')
Konjunktiv I (reported speech)
Used in formal indirect speech; the base is bringe, with the diagnostic er-form bringe.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bringe |
| du | bringest |
| er / sie / es | bringe |
| wir | bringen |
| ihr | bringet |
| sie / Sie | bringen |
Das Unternehmen erklärte, die Reform bringe Vorteile für alle Kunden.
The company stated that the reform would bring benefits for all customers. (formal/journalistic Konjunktiv I)
Usage and government
The core valency is dative (recipient) + accusative (thing): Ich bringe dir das Buch — "I'll bring you the book," where dir is dative and das Buch accusative. When both objects are pronouns, the accusative comes first: Ich bringe es dir ("I'll bring it to you"). When both are nouns, the dative comes first: Ich bringe meinem Vater die Zeitung.
Ich bringe es dir gleich morgen früh vorbei.
I'll bring it over to you first thing tomorrow morning. (two pronouns: accusative es before dative dir)
A crucial contrast for English speakers: bringen means to convey something while accompanying it; to fetch something and come back, German uses holen ("get/fetch") or abholen ("pick up"). And note the rich family of separable verbs built on bringen — mitbringen (bring along), vorbeibringen (drop off), unterbringen (accommodate), beibringen (teach), umbringen (kill).
Kannst du mir vom Bäcker Brötchen mitbringen?
Can you bring me some bread rolls from the bakery? (informal; mitbringen = bring along on your way)
Common idioms and fixed expressions
| Expression | English |
|---|---|
| jemandem etwas beibringen | to teach someone something |
| etwas auf den Punkt bringen | to put something in a nutshell |
| jemanden zum Lachen bringen | to make someone laugh |
| jemanden umbringen | to kill someone |
| es zu etwas bringen | to make something of oneself / go far |
Meine Oma hat mir das Stricken beigebracht.
My grandma taught me how to knit. (informal; beibringen + dative person + accusative skill)
Common Mistakes
❌ Ich bin dir das Buch gebracht.
Incorrect auxiliary — bringen takes a direct object, so the Perfekt uses haben, not sein.
✅ Ich habe dir das Buch gebracht.
I brought you the book.
❌ Ich habe gebringt.
Incorrect participle — the mixed verb forms gebracht (ng → ch), not 'gebringt'.
✅ Ich habe es gebracht.
I brought it.
❌ Bring mir einen Kaffee vom Café holen.
Incorrect — 'fetch and return' is holen; don't pile bringen and holen together.
✅ Hol mir bitte einen Kaffee.
Please get me a coffee.
❌ Ich bringe dir es.
Incorrect word order — with two pronouns, accusative precedes dative: es dir.
✅ Ich bringe es dir.
I'll bring it to you.
❌ Ich brachte für dich ein Geschenk.
Awkward — the recipient is a plain dative, no für: Ich brachte dir ein Geschenk.
✅ Ich brachte dir ein Geschenk.
I brought you a present.
Key Takeaways
- Principal parts: bringen – brachte – hat gebracht (mixed: stem bring- → brach-, weak endings; Perfekt with haben).
- Valency: dative recipient + accusative thing; with two pronouns, accusative comes first (es dir).
- bringen = convey while accompanying; to fetch and return, use holen / abholen.
- brächte is the Konjunktiv II; würde bringen is common in casual speech.
- Watch the productive separable family: mitbringen, vorbeibringen, beibringen, umbringen.
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