Betrinkst

Betrinkst is the second-person singular present tense form of the German verb betrinken. The verb has two main senses: reflexive use, meaning to drink one’s self into drunkenness (sich betrinken); and transitive use, meaning to intoxicate someone else (jemanden betrinken). The reflexive sense is far more common in everyday speech.

In the reflexive use, the present tense forms are: ich betrinke mich, du betrinkst dich, er betrinkt sich, wir betrinken uns, ihr betrinkt euch, sie betrinken sich. The form betrinkst is the second-person singular, as in du betrinkst dich, meaning you are getting drunk or you drink to excess.

In the transitive sense, betrinken takes a direct object: ich betrinke dich (I intoxicate you). This sense is less frequent in colloquial use and appears mainly in formal, literary, or figurative contexts, for example describing someone causing another to become intoxicated or a situation that overwhelms someone with drink.

Etymology and usage notes: betrinken is formed from trinken with the prefix be-, a common German pattern to create a transitive verb. The core meaning ties to drinking alcohol, with the reflexive form focusing on the drinker’s own state.

Common examples: Du betrinkst dich, wenn du zu viel Bier trinkst. Er versuchte, mich zu betrinken, doch ich hielt mich zurück. The term is typically avoided in formal writing, where phrases like sich betrinken or jemanden betrinken are used with clear context.