a

100 most common

German verbs
by Jakob Straub
Updated November 7, 2022

! Facebook " Twitter # Pinterest

$ LinkedIn

When learning German vocabulary, common

verbs are among the most important words as
you simply cannot form a complete sentence
without a word. In the following guide, we’ll
teach you the most common German verbs and
their past forms, the simple past and participle.
We’ll also show you sample sentences in which
we use the ten most common verbs in
variations.

Why it’s helpful to learn German verbs

The top 111 most common German verbs

Sample sentences with the 10 most common

German verbs

Learn languages at your

pace

Choose your plan

Why it’s helpful to learn

German verbs
Whether you’re messaging a friend or talking to
them in person, many casual conversations
happen in short expressions and half sentences.
However, if you want to express yourself fully
and form complete sentences in any language,
you’ll need to use verbs.

The more verbs you know in German, the more

things you can describe, express and convey.
Verbs are action words; you’ll have learned that
early on. But they not only describe physical
activity, they also allow you to express a state of
being or feeling and mental activity. 

Furthermore, auxiliary and modal verbs enable

you to express conditional clauses and construct
more complex sentences. Our list below is
primarily for vocabulary learning purposes, but
we’ll also show you how to conjugate verbs in
German.

Learn languages at your

pace

Choose your plan

List of the top 111 most

common German verbs
To get your vocabulary learning started or to
build a basic set of flashcards, here are the most
common and most used German verbs in
alphabetical order.

German
English verb Simple Past
verb

anbieten (to) o"er bot an

ändern (to) change änderte

anfangen (to) begin fing an

ansehen (to) look at sah ah

(to) answer,
antworten antwortete
reply

arbeiten (to) work arbeitete

(to) look,
aussehen sah aus
appear

bedeuten (to) mean bedeutete

(to) begin,
beginnen begann
start

bekommen (to) get bekam

bestellen (to) order bestellte

besuchen (to) visit besuchte

(to) concern,
betre"en betraf
a"ect

bieten (to) o"er bot

(to) form,
bilden bildete
shape

bleiben (to) stay blieb

brauchen (to) need brauchte

bringen (to) bring brachte

danken (to) thank dankte

denken (to) think dachte

(to) be
dürfen durfte
allowed to

entwickeln (to) develop entwickelte

(to) yield,
ergeben ergab
result in

(to) recall,
erinnern erinnerte
remember

(to)
erkennen recognise, erkannte
detect

erklären (to) explain erklärte

erreichen (to) reach erreichte

erscheinen (to) appear erschien

(to) expect,
erwarten erwartete
await

essen (to) eat aß

fahren (to) drive fuhr

finden (to) find fand

folgen (to) follow folgte

(to) ask,
fragen fragte
question

fühlen (to) feel fühlte

führen (to) lead führte

geben (to) give gab

gehen (to) go ging

gehören (to) belong hörte

gewinnen (to) win gewann

glauben (to) believe glaubte

haben (to) have hatte

halten (to) hold hielt

(to) act,
handeln handelete
trade

heißen (to) be called hieß

helfen (to) help half

(to) hear,
hören hörte
listen

interessieren (to) interest interessierte

kaufen (to) buy kaufte

kennen (to) know kannte

kommen (to) come kam

(to) be able
können konnte
to

lachen (to) laugh lachte

lassen (to) let ließ

laufen (to) run lief

leben (to) live lebte

(to) lay, put

legen legte
down

lernen (to) learn lernte

lesen (to) read las

lieben (to) love liebte

(to) lie
liegen lag
(down)

(to) make,
machen machte
do

meinen (to) mean meinte

mögen (to) live mochte

müssen (to) have to musste

nehmen (to) take nahm

(to) call,
nennen name, nannte
mention

ö"nen (to) open ö"nete

reden (to) talk redete

reisen (to) travel reiste

rennen (to) run rannte

riechen (to) smell roch

sagen (to) say sagte

(to) create,
scha"en schuf
achieve

(to) seem,
scheinen schien
shine

schlafen (to) sleep schlief

schließen (to) close schloss

schmecken (to) taste schmecke

schreiben (to) write schrieb

sehen (to) see sah

sein (to) be war

senden (to) send sandtesendete

(to) sit down,

setzen setzte
put down

singen (to) sing sang

sitzen (to) sit saß

(to) be
sollen supposed to, sollte
ought

spielen (to) play spielte

sprechen (to) speak sprach

stehen (to) stand stand

stellen (to) put stellte

studieren (to) study studierte

(to) search,
suchen suchte
look for

(to) divide,
teilen teilte
share

(to) carry,
tragen trug
wear

(to) meet,
tre"en traf
encounter

trinken (to) drink trank

tun (to) do tat

verbinden (to) connect verband

verlassen (to) leave verließ

verlieren (to) lose verlor

(to)
verstehen verstand
understand

(to) try,
versuchen versuchte
attempt

verwenden (to) use verwandteverwend

warten (to) wait wartete

(to) become,
werden wurde
will

wissen (to) know wusste

(to) live,
wohnen wohnte
reside

wollen (to) want wollte

zählen (to) count zählte

(to) show,
zeigen zeigte
demonstrate

ziehen (to) pull zog

Sample sentences with the

10 most common German
verbs
The following are examples sentences of how to
use the ten most common verbs: sein, haben,
werden, können, sollen, tun, machen, gehen, sagen,
geben.

1. Sein
“Ich bin dreiundzwanzig Jahre alt.” = I’m twenty

three years old.

“Wir müssen um drei Uhr dort sein.” = We have

to be there at three o’clock.

“Das kann doch nicht wahr sein!” = It can’t be

true!

2. Haben
“Haben Sie das gesehen?” = Did you see that?

“Hast du heute Zeit?” = Do you have time

today?

“Ich habe viele Bücher.” = I have many books.

3. Werden
“Ich werde immer besser!” = I’m getting better

and better at it!

“Er ist dreißig geworden.” = He turned thirty.

“Wurdet ihr nicht fertig?” = Did you not finish

with it?

4. Können
“Können Sie mir bitte helfen?” = Can you

please help me?

“Ich kann dich nicht verstehen.” = I cannot

understand you.

“Wir können zusammen essen gehen.” = We

can go eat together.

5. Sollen
“Ich soll Ihnen das geben.” = I’m supposed to

give you this.

“Sie sollen warten.” = They should wait.

“Was sollt ihr tun?” = What are you expected to

do?

6. Tun
“Warum hast du das getan?” = Why did you do

that?

“Es gibt viel zu tun!” = There is a lot to do!

“Was werdet ihr deswegen tun?” = What are

you going to do about it?

7. Machen
“Ich mache das Mittagessen.” = I’m making

lunch.

“Was hast du am Wochenende gemacht?” =

What did you do on the weekend?

“Das haben sie gut gemacht.” = They did /

made it well.

8. Gehen
“Das geht so nicht!” = It doesn’t work like this.

“Wir gehen spazieren.” = We’re taking a walk.

“Sie gehen zusammen aus.” They’re going out

together.

9. Sagen
“Entschuldigung, was haben Sie gesagt?” =

Excuse me, what did you say?

“Er will etwas sagen.” = He wants to say

something.

“Ich sage, wir machen das so.” = I say we do it

like this.

10. Geben
“Ich gebe dir einen Rat.” = I give you some

advice.

“Kannst du mir das bitte geben?” = Can you

please give me that?

“Ihr habt uns nichts gegeben.” = You have

given us nothing.

Are you curious about more common words in

German? Check out the list of the most common
spoken words in German!

Learn languages at your

pace

Choose your plan

Jakob is a freelance writer in Barcelona, Spain, and

his favorite books have pages all empty. As an
expert storyteller, he publishes creative fiction in
English and German and helps other authors shape
their manuscripts into compelling stories. Thanks to
an expertise in a wide range of topics such as
writing, literature and productivity to marketing,
travel, and technology, he produces engaging
content for his clients. Apart from the escape that
books o!er, Jakob enjoys traveling digital nomad
style and stays active with climbing and hiking. Find
out more about him on his website, Twitter or on
Goodreads.

! Facebook " Twitter # Pinterest

$ LinkedIn

Related articles

The rooms of the house in

German: A quick guide