Grammar Notes - Auxiliaries

Auxiliaries Present Tense Past Tense Past Conditional/Past Subjunctive Examples of use Test yourself!

 

Auxiliaries

Sein, haben and werden are so-called Auxiliary Verbs as they can be used with other Verbs to help them form a different Tense:

Auxiliary + Infinitive

• Future Tense

Auxiliary + Past Participle

• Present Perfect
• Past Perfect
• Future Perfect

Werden is used to form the Passive Voice in all Tenses.

These important Verbs are Strong Verbs. They are given below with some English equivalents in the Present and Past Tense Indicative Tenses and in the Past Conditional/Past Subjunctive, followed by some examples of use. 

Note on pronunciation:

• s at the beginning of a word sounds like z in German, and a final d sounds like a t. Also: ei sounds like: eye or I, while sind and seid are pronounced: zint and zite. German w is pronounced like an English v.
• How to pronounce: ä, ö and ü? Here is a rough and ready guide: shape your mouth in the way you would normally try to say a, o and u, but try to say: ee instead!

If you need more guidance, consult: Pronunciation

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Present Tense 

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
to be I am you are you are he is	we are you are you are they are	sein ich bin Du bist Sie sind er ist	wir sind Ihr seid Sie sind sie sind
to have I have you have you have she has	we have you have you have they have	haben ich habe Du hast Sie haben sie hat	wir haben Ihr habt Sie haben sie haben
to become I become you become you become it becomes	we become you become you become they became	werden ich werde Du wirst Sie werden es wird	wir werden Ihr werdet Sie werden sie werden

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Past Tense

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
to be I was you were you were he was	we were you were you were they were	sein ich war Du warst Sie waren er war	wir waren Ihr wart Sie waren sie waren
to have I had you had you had she had	we had you had you had they had	haben ich hatte Du hattest Sie hatten sie hatte	wir hatten Ihr hattet Sie hatten sie hatten
to become I became you became you became it became	we became you became you became they became	werden ich wurde Du wurdest Sie wurden es wurde	wir wurden Ihr wurdet Sie wurden sie wurden

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Past Conditional/Past Subjunctive

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
to be I would be you would be you would be he would be	we would be you would be you would be they would be	sein ich wäre Du wärst Sie wären er wäre	wir wären Ihr wärt Sie wären sie wären
to have I would have you would have you would have she would have	we would have you would have you would have they would have	haben ich hätte Du hättest Sie hätten sie hätte	wir hätten Ihr hättet Sie hätten sie hätten
to become I would become you would become you would become it would become	we became you became you became they became	werden ich würde Du würdest Sie würden es würde	wir würden Ihr würdet Sie würden sie würden

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Examples of use

That's true	Das ist wahr
I liked the first scarf better	Der erste Schal war mir schon lieber
That would be very nice	Das wäre sehr schön
Our club has won all the matches so far	Unser Verein hat bisher alle Spiele gewonnen
I had heard that too	Das hatte ich auch gehört
If I had wanted that, I'd have already done it!	Wenn ich das gewollt hätte, hätt' ich's schon getan!
I'll help you later with that	Ich werde Ihnen später damit helfen
It got late	Es wurde spät
If I were you, I wouldn't do it!	Wenn ich Sie wäre, würde ich es nicht machen!

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Test yourself!

Try the following:

Print out the table for the grammar point you are working on and fold it into 2 vertically. You will then be able to check your recall of the English and German examples by folding and unfolding the paper.

Created for ULTRALAB trial June 1999 Copyright ULTRALAB at Anglia Polytechnic University