German verbs of state change with “sein” in the perfect tense

🎓 Examples and Exercises

When do we use the perfect tense with the auxiliary verb “sein”?

In German, there are two auxiliary verbs used to form the perfect tense: „haben“ and „sein“.

But when do you use which one?

Normally, the perfect tense is formed with the auxiliary verb „haben“, but in some cases, we use „sein“ instead.

In German, the perfect tense is formed with „sein“ when the verb:

• expresses movement or
• indicates a change of state.

This page focuses on state-change verbs.
For more explanations and exercises on motion verbs with „sein“, ← click here.

What are verbs of state change?

State-change verbs, also called verbs of state change, describe a change in condition.

This means that the state of the subject before and after the action is different.

sein (not „haben“) + past participle

→ Ich bin eingeschlafen.
→ I have fallen asleep.

Examples of state-change verbs

🔹 einschlafen (Er ist eingeschlafen. → wach → schlafend)
🔹 fall asleep (He has fallen asleep. → awake → sleeping)

🔹 aufwachen (Sie ist aufgewacht. → schlafend → wach)
🔹 wake up (She has woken up. → sleeping → awake)

🔹 aufstehen (Er ist aufgestanden. → liegend → stehend)
🔹 get up (He has gotten up. → lying → standing)

🔹 verschwinden (Das Kind ist verschwunden. → anwesend → nicht mehr da)
🔹 disappear (The child has disappeared. → present → no longer there)

🔹 verwelken (Die Blume ist verwelkt. → frisch → welk)
🔹 wither (The flower has withered. → fresh → wilted)

🔹 zerbrechen (Das Glas ist zerbrochen. → ganz → kaputt)
🔹 break (The glass has broken. → whole → broken)

💡 Key characteristic of these verbs:

The subject is in a different state after the action than before.

These verbs belong to the group that forms the perfect tense with „sein“ because they do not just describe an action but a clear change in state.

🎓 Exercise 1 – Perfect Tense with ‚sein‘ for Verbs of State Change

In Exercise 1 – Choose the correctly conjugated form.

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An overview of other important German verb types ← can be found here.