Conjunation

German verb conjugation

2,714 German verbs with full conjugation tables — every tense and pronoun.

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Most common German verbs

  1. sein to be
  2. haben to have
  3. werden to become
  4. können to be able to
  5. müssen to have to
  6. wollen to want
  7. sollen should
  8. dürfen to be allowed
  9. mögen to like
  10. sagen to say
  11. machen to do; to make
  12. geben to give
  13. kommen to come
  14. gehen to go
  15. wissen to know
  16. sehen to see
  17. lassen to allow
  18. stehen to stand
  19. finden to find
  20. bleiben to stay
  21. liegen to lie
  22. heißen to have a name
  23. denken to think
  24. nehmen to take
  25. tun to do
  26. glauben to believe something
  27. halten to hold
  28. nennen to name
  29. zeigen to show
  30. sprechen to speak
  31. bringen to bring
  32. leben to live
  33. fahren to drive
  34. meinen to opine
  35. fragen to ask
  36. kennen to know, be acquainted
  37. gelten to apply
  38. stellen to place, put
  39. spielen to play
  40. arbeiten to work
  41. brauchen to need, to be in need of, to require
  42. folgen to follow
  43. lernen to learn
  44. verstehen to understand
  45. setzen to set, put
  46. bekommen to receive
  47. beginnen to begin; to commence; to be started
  48. erzählen to tell
  49. versuchen to try
  50. schreiben to write

German tenses explained

Present (Präsens)

Präsens is the default present for facts, habits, and near-future plans. German has no continuous aspect in the same way as English, so a single form often covers both “I work” and “I am working” when you add a time adverb or context.

Ich arbeite heute im Homeoffice.

Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II)

Konjunktiv II is the mood for politeness, contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and reported views. In speech, würde + infinitive often stands in for rarer preterit-based forms.

Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?

Imperative (Imperativ)

The imperative uses the du, ihr, and Sie forms of command; the informal du form drops the -st of the present for many strong verbs, and separable-prefix verbs place the prefix at the end.

Mach bitte schnell, der Zug fährt gleich ab.

Simple past (Präteritum)

Präteritum is a narrative past, common in print and in northern speech, while southern speakers lean on the perfect in conversation. sein and haben keep their Präteritum even when you otherwise avoid the preterite.

Er war müde, aber er hatte keinen Kaffee mehr.

Present perfect (Perfekt)

The Perfekt is the everyday past for finished events: auxiliary haben or sein plus participle, with sein for most motion, coming/going, and some change-of-state verbs.

Wir sind rechtzeitig angekommen und haben gefeiert.

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

The Plusquamperfekt is the pluperfect: it marks what had already completed before a later past episode in the same narrative.

Sie war schon gegangen, bevor er ankam.

Future I (Futur I)

Futur I is for predictions, firm promises, and also probability about the present in colloquial German. Everyday speech very often uses Präsens plus a time expression instead.

Morgen schneit es, sagt der Wetterbericht.

Future II (Futur II)

Futur II (werden + participle + haben/sein) names an action that will be completed before a later time, and can also express a guess that something must already have happened.

Bis Freitag werde ich alles gepackt haben.