German verb conjugation

Every tense of the 105 most-used German verbs, with example sentences, common phrases and a quick quiz on each page.

Find a verb

Most common German verbs

All German verbs A–Z

anbieten to offer
anfangen to begin; to start
ansehen to look at; to watch; to regard as
arbeiten to work
aussehen to look (like); to appear
bedeuten to mean; to signify
beginnen to begin; to start
bekommen to get; to receive
bestehen to pass (an exam); to exist; to insist; to consist
betreffen to concern; to affect
bieten to offer; to provide; to bid
bilden to form; to make up; to educate
bleiben to stay; to remain
brauchen to need; to take (time)
bringen to bring; to take (somewhere)
darstellen to depict; to present; to represent; to constitute
denken to think
dürfen to be allowed to; may
entsprechen to correspond to; to match; to meet (requirements)
entstehen to arise; to come into being; to be created
entwickeln to develop
ergeben to result in; to show; (sich) to arise, to surrender
erhalten to receive; to get; to preserve
erinnern to remind; to remember (sich an etwas erinnern)
erkennen to recognize; to realize; to identify
erklären to explain; to declare
erreichen to reach; to achieve; to catch (a train)
erscheinen to appear; to be published; to seem
erwarten to expect; to await
erzählen to tell; to recount
essen to eat
fahren to drive; to go (by vehicle); to ride
fallen to fall; to drop
fehlen to be missing; to be absent; to lack
finden to find; to think (have an opinion)
folgen to follow
fragen to ask
fühlen to feel
führen to lead; to run (a business); to guide
geben to give
gehen to go; to walk; to work (function)
gehören to belong (to); to be part of
gelten to be valid; to apply; to be considered
gewinnen to win; to gain
glauben to believe; to think
haben to have
halten to hold; to stop; to keep; to consider
handeln to act; to trade; to deal (with); to haggle
heißen to be called; to mean
helfen to help
interessieren to interest; to be interested in (sich für etwas interessieren)
kaufen to buy
kennen to know (be familiar with)
kommen to come
können to be able to; can; to know (a language)
lassen to let; to leave; to have something done
laufen to run; to walk; to go (work, function)
leben to live; to be alive
legen to lay; to put (down flat)
lernen to learn; to study
lesen to read
liegen to lie (be lying down); to be located
machen to make; to do
meinen to think; to mean; to say
mögen to like; may (possibility)
müssen to have to; must
nehmen to take
nennen to name; to call; to mention
reden to talk; to speak
sagen to say; to tell
schaffen to manage, to get done; to create
scheinen to shine; to seem, to appear
schlafen to sleep
schließen to close; to shut; to conclude
schreiben to write
sehen to see; to look
sein to be
setzen to put; to set; to seat
sitzen to sit; to be sitting; to fit (clothes)
sollen to be supposed to; should
spielen to play
sprechen to speak; to talk
stehen to stand; to be (written somewhere); to suit
stellen to put (upright); to place; to set
studieren to study (at university); to examine closely
suchen to look for; to search
tragen to carry; to wear; to bear
treffen to meet; to hit; to make (a decision)
trinken to drink
tun to do
verbinden to connect; to combine; to put through (on the phone); to bandage
vergehen to pass (time); to fade, to go away
vergleichen to compare
verlieren to lose
verstehen to understand
versuchen to try; to attempt; to taste
vorstellen to introduce; to present; to imagine (sich etwas vorstellen)
warten to wait; to service (machines)
waschen to wash
werden to become; to get; will (future); to be (passive)
wissen to know (a fact)
wohnen to live (reside); to stay
wollen to want; to want to
zeigen to show; to point
ziehen to pull; to move (house); to draw