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| haben - to have | ||
| Deutsch | English | Sample Sentences |
| SINGULAR | ||
| ich habe | I have | Ich habe einen roten Wagen. (...a red car.) |
| du hast | you (fam.) have |
Du hast mein Buch. (...my book.) |
| er hat | he has | Er hat ein blaues Auge. (...a black eye.) |
| sie hat | she has | Sie hat blaue Augen. (...blue eyes.) |
| es hat | it has | Es hat keine Fehler. (...no flaws.) |
| PLURAL | ||
| wir haben | we have | Wir haben keine Zeit. (...no time.) |
| ihr habt | you (guys) have |
Habt ihr euer Geld? (...your money?) |
| sie haben | they have | Sie haben kein Geld. (They have no money.) |
| Sie haben | you have | Haben Sie das Geld? (Sie, formal "you," is both singular and plural.) |
| See more verbs on our German Strong Verbs and 50 Common German Verbs pages. |
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To be or not to be...
Sein oder nicht sein...
Look at the following table for the conjugation of sein (to be) in the present tense. Notice how similar the German and English forms are in the third person (ist/is).
| sein - to be | ||
| Deutsch | English | Sample Sentences |
| SINGULAR | ||
| ich bin | I am | Ich bin's. (It's me.) |
| du bist | you (fam.) are |
Du bist mein Schatz. (...my darling/treasure.) |
| er ist | he is | Er ist ein netter Kerl. (...a nice guy.) |
| sie ist | she is | Ist sie da? (Is she here?) |
| es ist | it is | Es ist mein Buch. (...my book.) |
| PLURAL | ||
| wir sind | we are | "Wir sind das Volk!" ("We are the people/nation!" - Slogan of 1989 East German protests in Leipzig.) |
| ihr seid | you (guys) are |
Seid ihr unsere Freunde? (..our friends.) |
| sie sind | they are | Sie sind unsere Freunde. (..our friends.) |
| Sie sind | you are | Sind Sie Herr Meier? (Sie, formal "you," is both singular and plural.) |
| See more verbs on our German Strong Verbs and 50 Common German Verbs pages. |
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In later lessons we'll go over the past tense forms of both of these key verbs. In the meantime, if you want to look at these and other irregular verbs in the simple past and present perfect, see our German Strong Verbs pages.
NEXT > Next Lesson (Lesson 4.2)
How to conjugate most German verbs in the present tense. The second part of Lession 4.
Previous Lesson (Lektion 3)
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German for Beginners - Contents
Related Pages
50 Common German Verbs
A chart of the most common German verbs - with examples.
German Strong (Irregular) Verbs
The principal parts and conjugations of German irregular verbs, including "haben" and "sein."
Verb Review 1
Part One of a 3-part look at the ins and outs of German verbs. With self-scoring quiz.
English-German Glossaries
All of the annotated glossaries on this site - from aerospace to travel.
German Grammar
All of the grammar resources on this site.
German Newsletters
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