gebeten

Gebeten is the past participle of the German verb bitten, meaning to ask or to request. It is used with the auxiliary haben to form perfect tenses, typically to indicate that someone has asked for something or requested another person to do something. For example: Ich habe ihn gebeten, mir zu helfen. Ich habe um Hilfe gebeten.

The construction um etwas bitten (to ask for something) is a common use of gebeten, with um followed by the object in the accusative. Other common phrases include Bitte jemanden, etwas zu tun (to ask someone to do something). In perfect tense this yields forms like Ich habe ihn gebeten, mir zu helfen oder Wir haben um Entschuldigung gebeten.

Gebeten also appears in impersonal or formal passive constructions with werden, especially in notices or formal requests: Es wird gebeten, die Türen geschlossen zu halten. In this use, the phrase translates roughly as “Please” or “It is requested that …” and is frequent in official texts, signage, and letters.

Notes: gebeten can form other perfect constructions with various objects, as in Ich habe dich um Hilfe gebeten. The word Gebet, meaning prayer, is etymologically related but distinct in modern German usage. Gebeten serves strictly as the past participle of bitten and is not used as an adjective.