sein, haben and your first sentence

A1

With sein and haben you say who you are, how you feel, and what you have — the foundation for almost every German sentence. You'll learn the present-tense forms of both verbs and verb-second placement so your first statements sound right immediately.

  • Verb 'sein' (to be) in present tense
  • Verb 'haben' (to have) in present tense
  • Predicative adjectives with 'sein'
  • Verb-second word order (V2) in main clauses

Explanation

The two most important verbs in German are sein (to be) and haben (to have). Both are irregular — it's best to memorize the forms right away.

In a statement, the conjugated verb always goes in position 2. Position 1 can be the subject — Ich bin müde. — or, for example, a time expression: Heute bin ich müde. The important thing is only that the verb comes directly after it.

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After sein and bleiben, a predicative adjective has no ending — regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural: Anna ist müde. / Die Kinder sind müde. / Anna bleibt freundlich.
PronounseinhabenExample
ichbinhabeIch bin müde. / Ich habe Hunger.
dubisthastDu bist nett. / Du hast Zeit.
er / sie / esisthatEr ist klug. / Sie hat einen Hund.
wirsindhabenWir sind hier. / Wir haben Glück.
ihrseidhabtIhr seid laut. / Ihr habt Recht.
sie / SiesindhabenSie sind freundlich. / Sie haben ein Auto.

Find words

Which form of sein fits?

Which form of haben fits?

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Grammar in context

Read these texts to consolidate what you learned. They fit this grammar lesson especially well.

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