German Auxiliary Verbs
In German, there are three auxiliary verbs: sein, haben, and werden. These verbs are used to form compound tenses, such as the present perfect, future, and past perfect.
Sein is the verb “to be” in German. It is used to express states of being, such as location, possession, and identity. It is also used to form the past tense of certain verbs, such as kommen (to come) and gehen (to go).
Haben is the verb “to have” in German. It is used to express possession, as well as to form the past tense of certain verbs, such as essen (to eat) and trinken (to drink).
Werden is the verb “to become” in German. It is used to form the future tense, as well as the passive voice.
Here are some examples of how these auxiliary verbs are used:
- Sein
- Ich bin in der Schule. (I am at school.)
- Das ist mein Buch. (That is my book.)
- Er ist gekommen. (He came.)
- Haben
- Ich habe einen Hund. (I have a dog.)
- Ich habe gegessen. (I ate.)
- Werden
- Ich werde morgen in die Schule gehen. (I will go to school tomorrow.)
- Das Buch wird gelesen. (The book will be read.)
Here are some more detailed explanations of how these auxiliary verbs are used:
Sein
- In the present tense, sein is conjugated as follows:
ich bin du bist er/sie/es ist wir sind ihr seid sie sind
- In the past tense, sein is conjugated as follows:
ich war du warst er/sie/es war wir waren ihr wart sie waren
- In the present perfect tense, sein is used to form the past participle of certain verbs. The past participle is then used with the auxiliary verb haben to form the present perfect tense. For example:
ich habe gegessen (I have eaten)
- In the future tense, sein is used to form the passive voice. For example:
Das Buch wird gelesen. (The book will be read.)** **Haben** * **In the present tense, haben is conjugated as follows:**
ich habe
du hast
er/sie/es hat
wir haben
ihr habt
sie haben
* **In the past tense, haben is conjugated as follows:**
ich hatte
du hattest
er/sie/es hatte
wir hatten
ihr hattet
sie hatten
- In the present perfect tense, haben is used to form the past participle of most verbs. The past participle is then used with the auxiliary verb haben to form the present perfect tense. For example:
ich habe einen Hund. (I have a dog.)**
- In the future tense, haben is used to form the future perfect tense. For example:
Ich werde morgen einen Hund gehabt haben. (I will have had a dog tomorrow.)**
**Werden**
* **In the present tense, werden is conjugated as follows:**
ich werde
du wirst
er/sie/es wird
wir werden
ihr werdet
sie werden
* **In the past tense, werden is conjugated as follows:**
ich würde
du würdest
er/sie/es würde
wir würde i
ihr würdet
sie würden
* **In the future tense, werden is used to form the future tense. For example:**
Ich werde morgen in die Schule gehen. (I will go to school tomorrow.)**
- In the passive voice, werden is used to form the present tense. For example:
Das Buch wird gelesen. (The book is read.)**
I hope this information is helpful.`