Sein und haben are two very important verbs in German. Both of these verbs are ones that we will certainly encounter right from the very beginning of learning German.
Sein và haben are two very important verbs in German. Both of these verbs are ones we will certainly encounter right from the very beginning of learning German. The meanings of these two verbs are completely different, yet many German learners still confuse them. In today's article, let's distinguish between these two verbs together!
Sein (to be, am/is/are) | Haben (to have) |
- Used with Nominativ: Das ist ein Hund. (That is a dog.) | - Used with Akkusativ: Ich habe einen Hund. (I have a dog.) |
- Used with adjectives: „Ich bin glücklich." (I am very happy.) „Ihr seid nett." (You all are very kind.) „Sie sind freundlich." (They are very friendly.) | - Used with nouns to express possession: „Hast du Kinder?" (Do you have children?) „Ich habe eine Wohnung." (I have an apartment.) „Hast du einen Job?" (Do you have a job?) „Ich habe Zeit." (I have time.) |
- Used with nouns referring to a person's identity, such as: nouns indicating profession, proper names, nouns indicating nationality, etc.: „Bist du Deutscher?" (Are you German?) „Ich bin Ania." (I am Ania.) „Meine Freundin ist Lehrerin." (My girlfriend is a teacher). | |
- Used with phrases indicating age, date, and time: „Ich bin 33 Jahre alt." (I am 33 years old.) „Es ist 8 Uhr." (It is 8 o'clock.) „Heute ist der 24.Januar." (Today is January 24th.) | |
- Used as an auxiliary verb in the present perfect (Perfekt) or past perfect (Plusquamperfekt) tense structure. Sein combines with verbs of motion and verbs indicating a change of state such as: laufen, gehen, fahren, rennen, springen, fliegen, ….. and special verbs such as: bleiben, sein, werden,... „Ich bin gegangen." (I have gone.) „Du bist aufgestanden." (You have gotten up.) „Als ich ankam, waren alle schon gegangen." (When I arrived, everyone had already left.) | - Used as an auxiliary verb in the present perfect (Perfekt) or past perfect (Plusquamperfekt) tense structure. Haben combines with the remaining verbs (verbs that do not take sein). „Wir haben uns in Berlin kennengelernt." (We got to know each other in Berlin.) „Er hat den Tisch gedeckt." (He set the table.) „Ich habe drei Kilogramm zugenommen." (I have gained 3 kg.) |
Knowledge test
Distinguishing the use of sein and haben in German
- 1.
Wir …………. zu Hause geblieben.
- 2.
Die Sängerin……… sehr erfolgreich.
- 3.
Die Sängerin ….. einen großen Erfolg.