haben and sein – Auxiliary Verbs in German Grammar Flashcards
Tell me about haben/sein.
Haben and sein are used to form compound tenses such as present perfect, past perfect and future perfect. They are irregular verbs so their conjugations have to be memorised.
When to use haben as an auxiliary
When conjugating the present perfect, the past perfect and the future perfect in German, most verbs use haben as the auxiliary. For example:
- When do we use haben as a auxiiliary verb?
transitive verbs (verbs with a direct object)
Example: Er hat den Tisch gedeckt./He set the table.
When to use haben as an auxiliary
When conjugating the present perfect, the past perfect and the future perfect in German, most verbs use haben as the auxiliary. For example:
- When do we use haben as a auxiiliary verb?
intransitive verbs that do not express a change in place or state
Example: Max hat geschlafen/Max slept
When to use haben as an auxiliary
When conjugating the present perfect, the past perfect and the future perfect in German, most verbs use haben as the auxiliary. For example:
- When do we use haben as a auxiiliary verb?
reflexive verbs and reciprocal verbs
Example: Ich habe mich verlaufen/I got lost
Wir haben uns in Berlin kennengelernt/we met in Berlin
When to use haben as an auxiliary
When conjugating the present perfect, the past perfect and the future perfect in German, most verbs use haben as the auxiliary. For example:
- When do we use haben as a auxiiliary verb?
modal verbs
Example: Was hat er gewollt/What did he want?
When to use haben as an auxiliary
When conjugating the present perfect, the past perfect and the future perfect in German, most verbs use haben as the auxiliary. For example:
- When do we use haben as a auxiiliary verb?
impersonal verbs related to weather (with es): blitzen, donnern, hageln, nieseln, regnen, schneien, stürmen, …
Example: Es hat geregnet/It rained
When to use haben as an auxiliary
When conjugating the present perfect, the past perfect and the future perfect in German, most verbs use haben as the auxiliary. For example:
- When do we use haben as a auxiiliary verb?
other verbs: anfangen, beginnen, zunehmen, abnehmen, aufhören
Example: Ich habe fünf Kilogramm zugenommen/I gained five kilograms
When to use sein as an auxiliary
When conjugating the present perfect, the past perfect and the future perfect the following verbs use sein as the auxiliary:
- When do we use sein as a auxiliary verb?
intransitive verbs (verbs without a direct object) that express movement and a change of place, for example: gehen, laufen, fahren, …
Example: Er ist gelaufen/He ran
When to use sein as an auxiliary
When conjugating the present perfect, the past perfect and the future perfect the following verbs use sein as the auxiliary:
- When do we use sein as a auxiliary verb?
intransitive verbs that express a change of state, for example: aufwachen, gefrieren, sterben, …
Example: Ich bin eingeschlafen./I fell sleep
When to use sein as an auxiliary
When conjugating the present perfect, the past perfect and the future perfect the following verbs use sein as the auxiliary:
- When do we use sein as a auxiliary verb?
other verbs: bleiben, sein, werden, …
Example: Wir sind zu Hause geblieben/We stayed at home
In some cases haben or sein can be used with some verbs. Explain the condition when that can happen.
We have to use verbs of movement like joggen, klettern, schwimmen, tauchen with sein when the focus is on a change of place. If this is not the focus we can use both haben and sein.
Example: Er ist durch den Wald gejoggt./He jogged through the forest
Er ist/hat jeden Tag gejoggt/He jogged every day.
Wir sind auf den Berg geklettert/We climbed on the mountain.
Wir sind/haben fünf Stunden geklettert/We climbed for five hours.
Ich bin zur Insel geschwommen/I swam to the island.
Ich bin/habe Bestzeit geschwommen/I swam my best yime.
Du bist zum Schiffswrack getaucht/You dived to the ship-wreck.
Du bist/hast im Urlaub getaucht/You dived on holiday
There is one exception to using either haben or sein.
Name the verb.
The verb tanzen is an exception. If the focus is not on a change of place then we have to use haben (sein is not possible in this case).
Example: Sie sind durch den Saal getanzt./They are dancing through the hall.
but:
Sie haben früher viel getanzt/They danced a lot in the past.
Sie hat Ballet getanzt./She danced ballet
Wir haben Walzer getanzt./We danced the waltes
There are some verbs that haben will use in the perfect tense..
What are they?
Haben is the auxiliary verb for the verbs stehen, sitzen and liegen.
Example: Er hat auf der Straße gestanden/He stood on the street.
Du hast auf dem Sofa gesessen./You sat on the sofa
Die Kinder haben auf dem Boden gelegen./The children lay on the floor.
What are transitive verbs?
Transitive verbs are verbs that take an accusative object (who/what is directly receiving the action).
Example: Sie macht jedes Jahr mit ihrer Familie Urlaub an der Ostsee/She goes on holiday with her family every year to the Baltlic Sea
What are Intransitive verbs?
Intransitive verbs are verbs used without an accusative object.
Example: Vera ist an der Ostsee/Vera is at the Baltic Sea.
Am Horizont geht die Sonne unter/On the horizon the sun is going down.
Ein Schiff fährt auf dem Meer entlang/A ship is sailing a long on the sea.
Reflexive verbs are also intransitive.
Example: Sie erholen sich gern am Strand/They like to relax at the beach
