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Spoken Description

Lerne die Konjugation des unregelmäßigen Verbs haben im Präsens, Präteritum, Perfekt und weiteren Zeiten. Mit Beispielen, Gebrauchstipps und häufigen Redewendungen.

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Learn the conjugation of the irregular verb haben in present, past, perfect, and other tenses. With examples, usage tips, and common idioms.

The verb haben means "to have" and is used both for possession and as an auxiliary in German. This guide covers its present and preterite forms with example sentences for each.

Present Tense

Use the present tense of haben to talk about what you currently have or general possessions. Each subject pronoun has its own form.

	German Word(s)	English Word(s)
	ich habe	I have
	du hast	you have (singular informal)
	er/sie/es hat	he/she/it has
	wir haben	we have
	ihr habt	you have (plural informal)
	sie/Sie haben	they/you have (formal)

Fill in the Blankdu(have) einen Schlüssel.

you have a key

du (have)

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Examples

Preterite Tense

The preterite (simple past) form hatte is used for past possession or when describing what someone had at a specific time. It works the same way for all subjects.

	German Word(s)	English Word(s)
	ich hatte	I had
	du hattest	you had (singular informal)
	er/sie/es hatte	he/she/it had
	wir hatten	we had
	ihr hattet	you had (plural informal)
	sie/Sie hatten	they/you had (formal)

Fill in the Blankich(have) ein Haus.

I had a house

ich (have) past

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Usage

Use haben for physical, abstract, or temporary possession, and as an auxiliary with perfect tense. Choose present or preterite based on whether you’re talking about now or then.

Which of these sentences correctly use haben to express current possession?

Ich habe Geld in der Tasche

Wir haben ein neues Auto

Er hatte ein Buch gestern

Ihr hattet genug Zeit

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Summary

Haben is essential for expressing possession and forming past actions. Learn the present forms (ich habe, du hast, er hat, etc.) and the preterite hatte for smooth everyday speech.