In German, haben means “to have” while sein means “to be,” but both can be used as the auxiliary verb in the . The auxiliary verb you should use will depend on the meaning of the main verb, some use haben(to have) while others form them using sein(to be).
Du hast dein Handy bei mir im Auto vergessen.
You have left your mobile phone in my car.
Wo bist du zur Schule gegangen?
Where did you go to school?
Though there is some memorization involved, usually you can tell which auxiliary you should use by the meaning of the main verb. In this post, we’ll take you through when you’ll need to use haben and sein to put different verbs into the German compound tenses. Let’s have a look!
In German, we use the auxiliary verbs or “helping verbs” haben(to have) and sein(to be) to form three out of the six tenses:
the present perfect (Perfekt) → present tense of haben/sein + past participle:
Du hast dein Handy bei mir im Auto vergessen.
You left your mobile phone in my car.
Wo bist du zur Schule gegangen?
Where did you go to school?
the past perfect (Plusquamperfekt) → simple past of haben/sein + past participle
Weil ich mein Handy in deinem Auto vergessen hatte, konnte ich dich nicht anrufen.
Because I had left my phone in your car, I couldn’t call you.
Nachdem alle Teams angekommen waren, begann die erste Runde des Turniers.
Once all teams had arrived, the first round of the tournament started.
the future perfect (Futur II) → present tense of werden + past participle +haben/sein
In einem Jahr wirst du dein Studium abgeschlossen haben.
In one year’s time, you will have completed your studies.
22 Uhr ist zu spät, dann werde ich schon eingeschlafen sein.
10pm is too late, I will already have fallen asleep by then.
As you can see, the choice between haben(to have) and sein(to be) depends not on the tense you’re using but on the main verb. Let’s have a look at those rules!
In German, most verbs form compound tenses using haben, but the verbs that use sein are often very common. Below you’ll find some generalizations that will usually work to help you tell the two types of verbs apart.
If you want to see more examples, check out this list of verbs that take haben vs. sein.
There are some regional differences in the use of the auxiliary verbs sein and haben. For instance, in Switzerland and Southern Germany, the past perfect tense of the verbs stehen(to stand), sitzen(to sit), liegen(to lie) and knien(to kneel) is done with the auxiliary sein while in Standard German it’s the auxiliary haben.
Wir sind / haben stundenlang im Warteraum gesessen.
We sat in the waiting room for hours.
Most German verbs form the compound tenses with haben(to have). These include all reflexive verbs, transitive verbs, modal verbs, reciprocal verbs and impersonal verbs.
Reflexive verbs → Verbs for which the subject and object are the same, where a reflexive pronoun like “herself” or “themselves” is used:
Unser Hund hat sich beim Raufen die Pfoten verletzt.
Our dog hurt his paws while roughhousing.
Transitive verbs → Verbs that accept a direct object.
Der Spieler hatte den Ball bereits versenkt, als der Schlusspfiff ertönte.
The player had already put the ball in the net when the final whistle sounded.
Modal verbs → Words like können or wollen that are often used in conjunction with a main verb to express possibility, intention or necessity.
Das habe ich nun wirklich nicht gewollt!
I really didn’t want that!
Reciprocal verbs → describe actions that people simultaneously perform on one another, such as sich umarmen (to hug), sich küssen (to kiss), sich lieben (to love each other) etc.
Nachdem wir uns geküsst hatten, war alles anders.
After we had kissed (each other), everything was different.
Impersonal verbs → verbs that do not use a specific subject, but instead have a generic subject es(it). These verbs are frequently used to describe the weather, among other things:
Es hat die ganze Nacht geregnet.
It rained the whole night.
Sein is used to form compound tenses in much fewer cases than haben, but the verbs it is used with can be quite common. Here are some types of verbs that commonly use sein to form compound tenses:
Verbs indicating the subject’s movement from A to B:
Er ist unser schnellster Läufer. Nach einer Stunde wird er schon 15 Kilometer gerannt sein.
He is our fastest runner. After one hour, he will have already run 15 kilometers.
Ich hoffe, nächstes Jahr zu Weihnachten werden wir schon nach Berlin gezogen sein.
I hope next year at Christmas we will have already moved to Berlin.
Verbs indicating a change of state, such as werden(to become), einschlafen(to fall asleep), sterben(to die) and schmelzen(to melt).
Mein Bruder ist zum dritten Mal Vater geworden.
My brother has become a father for the third time.
Die Kinder waren schon eingeschlafen, als die Mutter von der Spätschicht nach Hause kam.
The children had already fallen asleep when the mother came home from the late shift.
Die Fußballlegende ist letzte Nacht mit stolzen 92 Jahren gestorben.
The football legend died last night at the proud age of 92.
Der erste Schnee ist bereits wieder geschmolzen.
The first snow has already melted.
Note, though, that the transitive use of verbs like schmelzen(to melt) requires the use of haben!
Die Sonne hat den ersten Schnee bereits wieder geschmolzen.
The sun has already melted the first snow again.
This rule also includes the verbs passieren(to happen) and geschehen(to take place):
Was ist passiert?
What happened?
Was geschehen ist, ist geschehen.
There’s no use crying over spilled milk.
The verbs sein(to be) and bleiben(to stay) and also use sein as their auxiliary verb in compound tenses:
Aber das ist immer so gewesen!
But it’s always been like this!
Fast die Hälfte der Wähler ist zu Hause geblieben.
Almost half of the voters stayed at home.
Verbs that use sein, such as verbs indicating movement from A to B, also use sein in their variants: aufgehen(to rise), auskommen, entlaufen(to run away), auffliegen(to bust), anfangen(to start), abreisen(to depart) etc.
Die Sonne ist gerade erst aufgegangen, die Läden sind noch geschlossen.
The sun has just risen, the shops are still closed.
Der Betrug bei der Führerscheinprüfung ist aufgeflogen.
The driving test fraud got busted.
There are some verbs that can be used with either haben or sein, but there is usually some difference in how they are being used in each case. Let’s look at a few circumstances like this:
We saw above that change-of-state verbs usually take sein, but some change-of-state verbs can also be used with a direct object, implying that the subject caused the change-of-state. In this second use, we use them with haben instead:
Der erste Schnee ist bereits wieder geschmolzen.
The first snow has already melted.
Die Sonne hat den ersten Schnee bereits wieder geschmolzen.
The sun has already melted the first snow again.
Similarly, we saw above that movement verbs usually take sein. However, if we are using them to express that someone moved an object from place-to-place, you’ll use haben instead. Compare:
Der Ball ist langsam ins Tor gerollt.
The ball rolled slowly into the goal.
Bei diesem Witz haben viele Zuschauer die Augen gerollt.
Many viewers rolled their eyes at this joke.
Verbs in which the subject stays in the same place will always take haben, not sein:
Wo hast du den Schlüssel hingelegt?
Where did you put the keys?
Haben Sie gerade Müll aus ihrem Auto geworfen?
Did you just throw trash out of your window?
Verbs in which the subject moves around in a single spot, generally take haben, while those in which the movement takes someone from place-to-place use sein. The verb tanzen(to dance) provides an interesting example:
Wir haben die ganze Nacht ohne Pause getanzt.
We danced all night without a break.
Der Winter ist erst vorbei, wenn das letzte Flöckchen vom Himmel getanzt ist.
Winter is not over until the last flake has danced out of the sky.
List item content
The conjugations of the auxiliary verbs haben(to have) and sein(to be) are given below:
Conjugation of haben(to have) | ||
|---|---|---|
Present | Simple Past | Past Participle |
ich habe | ich hatte | gehabt |
du hast | du hattest | |
er/sie/es hat | er/sie/es hatte | |
wir haben | wir hatten | |
ihr habt | ihr hattet | |
sie/Sie haben | sie/Sie hatten | |
Conjugation of sein(to be) | ||
|---|---|---|
Present | Simple Past | Past Participle |
ich bin | ich war | gewesen |
du bist | du warst | |
er/sie/es ist | er/sie/es war | |
wir sind | wir waren | |
ihr seid | ihr wart | |
sie/Sie sind | sie/Sie waren | |
To be or not to be, that was the question — now you have the answer! In this article, we’ve seen…
Use the auxiliary verbs haben or sein when forming:
the present perfect
the past perfect
the future perfect
The main verb determines whether haben or sein is used:
Sein is used for verbs indicating movement of the subject from A to B, a change of state verbs, and stative verbs.
Haben is used for verbs of movement where the actor themselves are not moving through space.
Now that you’ve understood when to use which auxiliary verb in compound tenses, it’s time for a little practice! Give our haben vs. sein activities a try!
