haben and sein – Auxiliary Verbs in German Grammar SPLIT 1

Question 1

Tell me about haben/sein.

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

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:

1. When do we use haben as a auxiiliary verb?

Answer 2

transitive verbs (verbs with a direct object)

Example: Er hat den Tisch gedeckt./He set the table.

Question 3

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:

2. When do we use haben as a auxiiliary verb?

Answer 3

intransitive verbs that do not express a change in place or state

Example: Max hat geschlafen/Max slept

Question 4

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:

3. When do we use haben as a auxiiliary verb?

Answer 4

reflexive verbs and reciprocal verbs

Example: Ich habe mich verlaufen/I got lost

Wir haben uns in Berlin kennengelernt/we met in Berlin