Good to know. Irregular (strong) verb: the stem changes. Learn the key forms together and the rest follows.
haben in every tense
The three you'll use most are highlighted: Präsens for now, Perfekt for the past when you speak, Futur I for later.
Präsens
now
| ich | habeI have |
|---|---|
| du | hastyou have |
| er/sie/es | hathe/she has |
| wir | habenwe have |
| ihr | habtyou have |
| sie/Sie | habenthey have |
Präteritum
past, mostly written
| ich | hatteI had |
|---|---|
| du | hattestyou had |
| er/sie/es | hattehe/she had |
| wir | hattenwe had |
| ihr | hattetyou had |
| sie/Sie | hattenthey had |
Perfekt
past, spoken, with haben
| ich | habe gehabtI have had |
|---|---|
| du | hast gehabtyou have had |
| er/sie/es | hat gehabthe/she has had |
| wir | haben gehabtwe have had |
| ihr | habt gehabtyou have had |
| sie/Sie | haben gehabtthey have had |
Plusquamperfekt
had done
| ich | hatte gehabtI had had |
|---|---|
| du | hattest gehabtyou had had |
| er/sie/es | hatte gehabthe/she had had |
| wir | hatten gehabtwe had had |
| ihr | hattet gehabtyou had had |
| sie/Sie | hatten gehabtthey had had |
Futur I
will do
| ich | werde habenI will have |
|---|---|
| du | wirst habenyou will have |
| er/sie/es | wird habenhe/she will have |
| wir | werden habenwe will have |
| ihr | werdet habenyou will have |
| sie/Sie | werden habenthey will have |
Imperativ
telling someone to do it
| du | Hab! |
|---|---|
| ihr | Habt! |
| Sie | Haben Sie! |
haben in use
- A1
Ich habe einen Bruder.
I have a brother.
- A1
Hast du Zeit?
Do you have time?
- A1
Wir haben gestern Pizza gegessen.
We had pizza yesterday.
haben + participle = Perfekt
- A2
Ich hatte keine Zeit.
I had no time.
Phrases
- Hunger habento be hungry
- Recht habento be right
Good to know
- Irregular: du hast, er hat; past: hatte.
- Many expressions: Hunger haben, Durst haben, Angst haben.
- Goes with: etwas (Akkusativ) haben
Build it yourself.
Ziplex has a Verben bauen game: build verb forms from tiles, with the verbs from your own posts. Plus short posts at your level to see them in action.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is haben with haben or sein in the Perfekt?
haben takes haben. For example: habe gehabt.
What is the past tense of haben?
Präteritum: hatte. Perfekt: habe gehabt.
Is haben a regular verb?
No, it's irregular (strong): the stem changes.