From Middle High German begaten (“to reach, meet, join”), from Old High German bigatōn. Equivalent to be- + Gatte (“spouse”, originally “companion”) + -en. The modern sense of the verb (17th c.) follows the semantic development of the noun. Not related with English beget.
begatten (weak, third-person singular present begattet, past tense begattete, past participle begattet, auxiliary haben)
infinitive | begatten | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | begattend | ||||
past participle | begattet | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich begatte | wir begatten | i | ich begatte | wir begatten |
du begattest | ihr begattet | du begattest | ihr begattet | ||
er begattet | sie begatten | er begatte | sie begatten | ||
preterite | ich begattete | wir begatteten | ii | ich begattete1 | wir begatteten1 |
du begattetest | ihr begattetet | du begattetest1 | ihr begattetet1 | ||
er begattete | sie begatteten | er begattete1 | sie begatteten1 | ||
imperative | begatt (du) begatte (du) |
begattet (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.