Auxiliary Verbs
Auxiliary verbs in German help form tenses, moods, and voices by combining with main verbs or past participles. The key auxiliaries are haben, sein, and werden.
haben
Use haben as an auxiliary for forming the perfect tense with most transitive verbs and many intransitives, and for the pluperfect and future perfect.
| German Sentence | English Sentence |
|---|---|
| Ich habe das Buch gelesen. | I have read the book. |
| Wir hatten das Essen schon bestellt. | We had already ordered the food. |
| Du wirst das Video gesehen haben. | You will have seen the video. |
sein
Use sein as an auxiliary for the perfect tense with verbs that indicate movement or change of state, and for forming the passive voice with werden.
| German Sentence | English Sentence |
|---|---|
| Er ist nach Berlin gefahren. | He has gone to Berlin. |
| Sie ist geboren worden. | She has been born. |
| Wir sind früh angekommen. | We have arrived early. |
werden
Use werden to form the future tense, the conditional, and the passive voice. It appears as an auxiliary before the infinitive or as part of the passive construction.
| German Sentence | English Sentence |
|---|---|
| Ich werde das Projekt starten. | I will start the project. |
| Das Haus wird gebaut. | The house is being built. |
| Er würde helfen, wenn er Zeit hätte. | He would help if he had time. |
Summary
The three main auxiliaries are haben, sein, and werden. haben and sein help form the perfect and pluperfect tenses, while werden forms the future, conditional, and passive voice.
Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025