Auxiliary verbs in German
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HideWhat are auxiliary verbs in German?
In German the auxiliary verbs are:
- sein - to be
- werden - to become
- haben - to have
All three auxiliary verbs are irregular! To see their conjugation, have a look at the following chapters about conjugation of haben, werden and sein.
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Usage of German auxiliary verbs
Tenses
Auxiliary verbs are used to build the folowing tenses:
- Perfekt
- Plusquamperfekt
- Futur I
- Futur II
Examples
| Tense | Construction (in general) | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perfekt (Indikativ) | Indikativ Präsens of haben (or sein) + Partizip Perfekt of the full verb | Du hast einen Kuchen gebacken. | You have baked a cake. |
| Plusquamperfekt (Indikativ) | Indikativ Präteritum of haben (or sein) + Partizip Perfekt of the full verb | Du hattest einen Kuchen gebacken. | You had baked a cake. |
| Futur I (Indikativ) | Indikativ Präsens of werden + Infinitiv Präsens of the full verb | Du wirst einen Kuchen backen. | You will bake a cake. |
| Futur II (Indikativ) | Indikativ Präsens of werden + Infinitiv Perfekt of the full verb | Du wirst einen Kuchen gebacken haben¹. | You will have baked a cake. |
| Perfekt (Konjunktiv I) | Konjunktiv I Präsens of haben (or sein) + Partizip Perfekt of the full verb | Du habest einen Kuchen gebacken. | You would have backed a cake. |
| Futur I (Konjuktiv I) | Konjunktiv I Präsens of werden + Infinitiv präsens of the full verb | Du werdest einen Kuchen backen. | You would have baked a cake. |
| Futur II (Konjunktiv I) | Konjunktiv I Präsens of werden + Infinitiv Perfekt of the full verb | Du werdest einen Kuchen gebacken haben. | You would have baked a cake. |
¹ We also need the auxiliary verbs haben and sein to build the Invinitiv Perfekt.
- Er wird eine Aussage gemacht haben. - He will have made a statement.
- Sie wird alt geworden sein. - She will have grown old.
Passive form
We use the auxiliary verb werden also to build the passive form in German.
Examples
- Ich werde beobachtet. - I am being observed
- Du wurdest gesehen. - You have been seen.