At CEFR level A1, learners study the three most important irregular German verbs—haben, sein, and werden—which are the foundation of German sentence structure and appear in nearly every conversation.
At CEFR level A1, learners study the three most important irregular German verbs—haben, sein, and werden—which are the foundation of German sentence structure and appear in nearly every conversation.
The verbs haben (to have), sein (to be), and werden (to become/will) are the most important irregular verbs in German. Unlike regular verbs that follow predictable patterns, these three verbs have unique conjugation forms that must be memorized. They appear constantly in everyday speech and are essential building blocks for more advanced grammar structures.
Each of these verbs follows its own conjugation pattern. Pay close attention to the forms for "du" and "er/sie/es":
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe |
| du | hast |
| er/sie/es | hat |
| wir | haben |
| ihr | habt |
| sie/Sie | haben |
Notice: "ich habe" drops the final "-e" becoming "ich hab" in spoken German.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bin |
| du | bist |
| er/sie/es | ist |
| wir | sind |
| ihr | seid |
| sie/Sie | sind |
"sein" is completely irregular - each form must be memorized individually.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde |
| du | wirst |
| er/sie/es | wird |
| wir | werden |
| ihr | werdet |
| sie/Sie | werden |
"werden" shows an e→i vowel change in du/er/sie/es forms, similar to stem-changing verbs.
When used as main verbs (Vollverben), these verbs require a complement—either a noun or an adjective—to complete the sentence meaning:
haben + noun:
sein + noun or adjective:
werden + noun or adjective:
Beyond their use as main verbs, haben, sein, and werden are essential for forming compound tenses and grammatical constructions:
The position of these verbs in a sentence follows standard German word order rules. Understanding verb placement is crucial for constructing grammatically correct sentences:
In declarative sentences and Wh-questions, the conjugated verb always appears in the second position, with the complement at the end:
| Position 1 | Position 2 (Verb) | Position 3+ | Satzende |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meine Mutter | ist | heute | krank. |
| Wir | werden | im Sommer | Großeltern. |
| Wann | hast | du morgen | Zeit? |
In yes-no questions, the conjugated verb moves to the first position, and the complement remains at the end:
| Position 1 (Verb) | Position 2 | Position 3+ | Satzende |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bist | du | müde? | |
| Habt | ihr | am Wochenende | Pläne? |
| Wird | es | morgen wieder | warm? |
These verbs appear in many common expressions. Learning these phrases will make your German sound more natural:
haben: ich habe, du hast, er/sie/es hat, wir haben, ihr habt, sie/Sie haben. sein: ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist, wir sind, ihr seid, sie/Sie sind. werden: ich werde, du wirst, er/sie/es wird, wir werden, ihr werdet, sie/Sie werden. All three are fully irregular and their forms must be memorized—they do not follow regular conjugation patterns.
Both haben and sein are used to form the Perfekt (conversational past tense). Most verbs use haben: Ich habe gegessen (I ate). Verbs expressing movement or a change of state use sein: Ich bin gefahren (I drove), Ich bin aufgewacht (I woke up). You need to learn which auxiliary each verb takes when you learn its past participle.
As a main verb, werden means "to become" or "to get" and takes a complement: Die Tage werden länger (The days are getting longer). As an auxiliary verb, werden forms the future tense (Futur I): Ich werde morgen lernen (I will study tomorrow). At A1 level, focus on werden as a main verb expressing change or becoming.