The beginner-friendly guide to sein and haben conjugation
To be in German / to have in German
Sein oder Nichtsein, das ist hier die Frage!
To be, or not to be, that is the question!
~ William Shakespeare
Struggling with the German verbs sein and haben?
Let’s conquer them together!
On this page, you’ll learn not only how to conjugate the verbs ‘haben’ (to have) and ‘sein’ (to be) correctly, but also how to use them effectively in sentences.
Begin by watching the video below—it’s your first step towards mastering ‘haben’.
It will guide you through its conjugation and provide you with a practical example to illustrate its usage.
After watching the video, make sure to explore the rest of the page thoroughly. Here you’ll find detailed explanations and examples for both ‘haben’ and ‘sein’.
In just 15 minutes, you’ll be confidently using these essential German verbs in your conversations!
Conjugation sein = to be (irregular verb)
Let’s practice a little with the irregular German verb sein.
Singular
Ich bin klein.
Du bist groß.
Er ist langsam.
Sie ist heiß.
Es ist kalt.
Plural
Wir sind schlau (smart).
Ihr seid toll (great).
Sie sind dumm (stupid).
Regular and Irregular Verbs
The verbs sein (to be) and haben (to have) are the two most important German words and you have to know them well if you want to survive in Germany.
Most verbs are regular.
A regular verb is a verb whose conjugation follows the typical pattern.
Singular
ich trinke
du trinkst
er, sie, es trinkt
Plural
wir trinken
ihr trinkt
sie trinken
Sein and haben, for instance, are irregular verbs.
We use these two words in many situations and also in compound tenses (but I will explain this later – always step by step).
Conjugation haben = to have (irregular verb)
Now let’s practice a little with the irregular verb haben.
- Read and listen to the audio several times.
- Repeat each phrase after the speaker.
- Focus on imitating the speaker’s pronunciation as closely as possible.
- After a few repetitions, move on to Part B (further below).
Tip: Always try to visualize the situations in your mind; this will help you remember the words better!
Have a look at the example sentences:
Ich habe ein Fahrrad.
I have a bike.
Du hast zwei Ohren.
You have two ears.
Hanna hat drei Exmänner.
Hanna has three ex-husbands.
Sie hat drei Exmänner.
She has three ex-husbands.
Wolfgang hat vier Freundinnen.
Wolfgang has four girlfriends.
Er hat vier Freundinnen.
He has four girlfriends.
Das Auto hat fünf Beulen.
The car has five dents.
Es hat fünf Beulen.
It has five dents.
Wir haben sechs Haustiere.
We have six pets.
Ihr habt sieben Tage pro Woche zum Deutsch lernen.
You have seven days a week to learn German.
Sie haben acht Kinder.
They have eight children.
Conjugation of haben – Exercise B:
How to Use Part B of the Exercise Effectively
Question and Answer Section:
- Read and listen to the questions and answers several times.
- Answer the questions during the pauses (you can refer to the answers if needed).
- After a few repetitions, try to answer without looking at the answers.
- Focus on imitating my pronunciation as closely as possible.
- Repeat the lesson until you can easily answer all the questions.
Questions and Answers
Frage:
Was habe ich – ein Fahrrad oder ein Skateboard?
Kurze Antwort:
ein Fahrrad
Lange Antwort:
Ich habe ein Fahrrad.
Hast du drei Ohren?
Nein, natürlich nicht (of course not).
Du hast zwei Ohren.
Na ja, ich hoffe es (well, I hope so).
Was hat das Auto?
Beulen
Das Auto hat Beulen.
Es hat Beulen.
Wie viele Beulen hat das Auto?
fünf
Das Auto hat fünf Beulen.
Es hat fünf Beulen.
Wir haben fünf Haustiere – oder?
Nein, wir haben nicht fünf Haustiere.
Wir haben sechs Haustiere.
Wie viele Tage habt ihr pro Woche zum Deutsch lernen?
sieben
Ihr habt sieben Tage.
Ihr habt sieben Tage pro Woche.
Ihr habt sieben Tage pro Woche zum Deutsch lernen.
Und ihr solltet das auch jeden Tag tun – mindestens fünf bis zehn Minuten!!!
(And you should do that every day – at least five to ten minutes!!!)
Wie viele Kinder haben sie (they)?
acht
Sie haben acht Kinder.
Wie viele (how many) Exmänner hat Hanna?
drei
Hanna hat drei Exmänner.
Sie hat nicht nur (only) einen Exmann oder zwei Exmänner.
Nein, sie hat drei Exmänner.
Ziemlich viele (quite a lot)
Wie viele Freundinnen hat Wolfgang?
vier
Wolfgang hat vier Freundinnen.
Ich habe noch nicht einmal eine Freundin.
(I don’t even have one girlfriend.)
Ich habe Hunger (I am hungry)
By the way, usually we translate sein with to be and haben with to have but please note that in a lot of cases you cannot translate word by word.
For example: In German we say: Ich habe Hunger (translated literally it means: I have hunger).
Don't stop now - repeat this part again!
Repeat this lesson until you can easily answer the questions.
Here is more for you
You should also repeat these lessons:
- How to say LIKE in German
- Learn the most important basic phrases in German
- Word ‘is’ (to be) in the German language
- How to recognize the German articles – list
- The German ABC
- Similar German and English words
- What is the plural article in German?
And here are some blog articles that might interest you
Gib niemals auf mit dem Deutsch lernen!
Ich weiß, es ist ein langer Weg, aber denke immer daran: “Der beste Weg, um deine Zukunft vorauszusagen, ist sie selbst zu erschaffen.”
Never give up! I know it is a long way but keep this in mind: “The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
Lesson 1
German Articles der, die, das
…
Lesson 12
Er, SIE, ES instead of a Noun
You’re doing fantastic!
Keep it going.
You are in Lesson 13
SEIN + HABEN
Lesson 14
Important Words + Phrases
Lesson 15
MÖGEN
Jump to…
Lesson 20
German Umlauts Ä Ö Ü
Lesson 30
Telling time in German
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