German Verb Conjugations of Essen (To Eat)

Teenage girls eating Bratwurst
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No matter where you are in the world one thing will always be true, everyone loves to eat! Most people never want to accidentally say they've eaten when they haven't but if you don't use the proper verb tense that's just the kind of mistake you can make. Learning all the ways to conjugate the word essen or to eat can help you never miss a meal in Germany.  

Stem-Changing Verbs

Essen is a regular stem-changing verb. German, like many other languages, has these stem-changing verbs. This means that the stem or ending of the word is what changes based on who the action is referring to. These endings will remain consistent throughout the language for regular stem-changing verbs. Unlike in English, where I take and we take uses the same form of the verb; in German, the stems of the verb would change. This can make learning the language easier because you only need to remember the roots of most verbs. Verbs that are irregular will not follow these rules or will only follow them some of the time. Thankfully essen is one of these regular verbs.

Essen: Conjugated in All Tenses

Past tense • Vergangenheit

The following charts will show the German verb essen conjugated in all its past tenses and moods. It may look like a lot to remember but once you learn the stems of verbs it will be much easier. These types of linguistic patterns can make learning any language easier.  

Simple Past Tense -  Imperfekt

Singular

ich aß I ate
du aßt you ate
er aß
sie aß
es aß
he ate
she ate
it ate
wir aßen we ate
ihr aßt you (guys) ate
sie aßen they ate
Sie aßen you ate

Compound Past Tense (Pres. Perfect) -  Perfekt

ich habe gegessen I ate/have eaten
du hast gegessen you ate/have eaten
er hat gegessen
sie hat gegessen
es hat gegessen
he ate/has eaten
she ate/has eaten
it ate/has eaten
wir haben gegessen we ate/have eaten
ihr habt gegessen you (guys) ate
have eaten
sie haben gegessen they ate/have eaten
Sie haben gegessen you ate/have eaten

Past Perfect Tense - Plusquamperfekt

ich hatte gegessen I had eaten
du hattest gegessen you (fam.) had eaten
er hatte gegessen
sie hatte gegessen
es hatte gegessen
he had eaten
she had eaten
it had eaten
wir hatten gegessen we had eaten
ihr hattet gegessen you (guys) had eaten
sie hatten gegessen they had eaten
Sie hatten gegessen you had eaten

Now that you've learned how to avoid being over fed make sure you know how to ask for a meal as well! If you 're looking to up your language skills make sure to check out the 20 most-used German verbs. Don't forget to learn how to ask for your favorite foods and of course, your favorite beer, while you're at it. Because the more words you know the more friends you can make

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Flippo, Hyde. "German Verb Conjugations of Essen (To Eat)." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/essen-to-eat-past-tense-4081343. Flippo, Hyde. (2023, April 5). German Verb Conjugations of Essen (To Eat). Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/essen-to-eat-past-tense-4081343 Flippo, Hyde. "German Verb Conjugations of Essen (To Eat)." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/essen-to-eat-past-tense-4081343 (accessed April 19, 2024).