Lesen: to read

Conjugations

Lesen is an irregular verb with stem changes in the du, er/sie/es, and sie/Sie forms. The e changes to ie in these forms, and the ending follows standard German verb rules.

Present Tense (Präsens)

Pronoun	German Verb	English Verb	German Example	English Example
ich	lese	read	Ich lese ein Buch.	I read a book.
du	liest	read (you)	Du liest die Zeitung.	You read the newspaper.
er/sie/es	liest	reads	Sie liest einen Artikel.	She reads an article.
wir	lesen	read	Wir lesen zusammen.	We read together.
ihr	lest	read	Ihr lest die Aufgabe.	You all read the task.
sie/Sie	lesen	read	Sie lesen die E-Mail.	They/You read the email.

Simple Past (Präteritum)

Lesen becomes las in the simple past, with regular -en* endings:

Pronoun	German Verb	English Verb	German Example	English Example
ich	las	read	Ich las gestern ein Buch.	I read a book yesterday.
du	last	read (you)	Du last einen Brief.	You read a letter.
er/sie/es	las	read	Er las die Zeitung.	He read the newspaper.
wir	lasen	read	Wir lasen lange.	We read for a long time.
ihr	last	read	Ihr last die Nachrichten.	You all read the news.
sie/Sie	lasen	read	Sie lasen die E-Mail.	They/You read the email.

Present Perfect (Perfekt)

Formed with haben + gelesen (past participle). The stem les- stays the same with ge- added at the beginning and -en at the end.

Pronoun	German Past Participle	German Example	English Example
ich	habe gelesen	Ich habe das Buch gelesen.	I have read the book.
du	hast gelesen	Du hast den Artikel gelesen.	You have read the article.
er/sie/es	hat gelesen	Sie hat den Brief gelesen.	She has read the letter.
wir	haben gelesen	Wir haben zusammen gelesen.	We have read together.
ihr	habt gelesen	Ihr habt die Zeitung gelesen.	You all have read the newspaper.
sie/Sie	haben gelesen	Sie haben die E-Mail gelesen.	They/You have read the email.

Stem Changes

du, er/sie/es, sie/Sie forms change e → ie
This only happens in the present tense

Usage

Used to describe the act of reading anything: books, newspapers, emails, etc.
Can be used reflexively in certain contexts (e.g., sich durchlesen = to read through something).
Common prepositions with lesen include aus (to read from), von (about/from), and über (about).

Common Expressions with *lesen

Expression	Meaning	German Example	English Example
etwas lesen	read something	Ich lese einen Roman.	I’m reading a novel.
vorlesen	read aloud	Sie liest den Kindern vor.	She reads aloud to the children.
durchlesen	read through	Ich habe den Text durchgelesen.	I have read through the text.
nachlesen	look up (read later)	Kannst du das nachlesen?	Can you look that up?
lesen können	be able to read	Ich kann schon lesen.	I can already read.

I have read through the text.

Ich habe den Text durchlasen.

Ich habe den Text durchgelesen.

Ich habe den Text durchlesen.

Ich habe den Text gelesen durch.

Ich habe den Text durchgelesen.

Perfect tense with 'haben' + past participle 'durchgelesen'.

Summary

lesen = to read
Irregular stem change e → ie in du/er/sie/es/sie-Sie forms (present tense)
Past stem las- is regular in simple past and past participle (gelesen)
Uses haben as auxiliary in perfect tense
Common in many compound verbs (vorlesen, durchlesen, nachlesen)
Flexible for all reading contexts: books, articles, signs, etc.

Examples

German Example	English Example
Ich lese jeden Tag die Zeitung.	I read the newspaper every day.
Liest du den neuen Roman schon?	Are you already reading the new novel?
Wir haben das Buch zusammen gelesen.	We have read the book together.
Sie liest ihrem Kind jeden Abend vor.	She reads aloud to her child every evening.
Hast du den Artikel durchgelesen?	Have you read through the article?

For more details, see the German Irregular Verbs page.

Hast du den Artikel durchgelesen?

Are you reading the article?

Have you read through the article?

Have you written the article?

Did you read the article yesterday?

Have you read through the article?

'durchgelesen' is the past participle of 'durchlesen' (to read through).

German