The Verbs “sein” and “haben”

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„Sein” and „haben” in General

  • The verbs „sein“ and „haben“ are two very important verbs in the German language that you will use quite often in many different situations.
  • They can act as normal verbs meaning "to be" and "to have," as well as when constructing different Tenses.

Conjugation

Conjugation of „sein”:

sein conjugation

„Sein” is 100% irregular.

Conjugation of „haben”:

haben conjugation

Using „sein“ as a Main Verb:

We can use „sein“ in combination with Adjectives:

  • „Du bist nett.“
  • „Er ist arrogant.“
  • „Ich bin schön.“

We can use „sein“ to identify Things, People and Animals (Names, Nationalities, Professions, ...):

  • „Das ist Sebastian.“
  • „Leo ist ein Löwe.“
  • „Ich bin Deutschlehrer.“

We can use „sein“ to indicate Age, Date, and Time:

  • „Sebastian ist 27 Jahre alt.“
  • „Es ist schon 23 Uhr.“
  • „Heute ist der 30. August.“

Using „haben“ as a Main Verb

We can use „haben“ to indicate possession:

  • „Er hat ein Haus.“
  • „Sie hat eine Puppe.“
  • „Ich habe einen Fußball.“

We can use „haben“ in the case of a state referring to a noun:

  • „Er hat Zeit.“
  • „Sie hat lange Haare.“
  • „Ich habe einen Bruder.“

Certain idioms with „haben“ are:

  • „Ich habe Recht.“
  • „Ich habe dich lieb.“
  • „Er hat es eilig.“

„Haben“ and „sein“ as Helping Verb

You can learn how exactly to use „haben“ and „sein“ as helping verbs on the specific page of the tenses that need them:

Related Topics:

Entire lesson in German only: „sein“ und „haben“

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