Präsens
Present
What happens now, regularly, and often in the future too: ich fahre morgen nach Berlin.
German verb conjugation
Lesen conjugation
Lesen — “to read”. Every tense with audio: tap a form to hear it, or the speaker to hear the whole tense.
- Translation
- to read
- Group
- strong verb
- Partizip II
- gelesen
- Perfekt with haben
- ich habe gelesen
Lesen in every tense
Er / sie / es and sie / Sie (the polite “you”) share the same forms. The Konjunktiv II of most verbs is würde + infinitive.
Your browser can’t read this language aloud — try Chrome, Safari or Edge.
Präteritum
Simple past
The past of books and news; in speech mostly sein, haben and the modals: ich war, ich hatte, ich konnte.
Perfekt
Spoken past
The main past tense of speech: ich habe gegessen, ich bin gefahren.
Plusquamperfekt
Past perfect
What had happened before another past moment: nachdem ich gegessen hatte, …
Futur I
Future
Plans, predictions and promises: morgen wird es regnen. The Präsens often replaces it.
Konjunktiv II
Conditional
Polite requests and imagined situations: ich hätte gern…, wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich reisen.
Imperativ
Imperative
Requests, advice, instructions: komm! Nehmen Sie Platz.
What to know
e → ie in the du and er forms; du liest and er liest are identical because the stem ends in s. Präteritum las, participle gelesen.
Examples
- Ich lese gern Krimis.I like reading crime novels.
- Sie liest die Zeitung.She’s reading the newspaper.
- Hast du das Buch schon gelesen?Have you read the book yet?
Practice
A person and a tense — choose the right form of lesen. 10 questions.
Choose the form
FAQ
Didn’t find your answer? Send us a request — we’ll tell you everything.
How do you conjugate lesen in the Präsens?
ich lese, du liest, er/sie/es liest, wir lesen, ihr lest, sie/Sie lesen.
Does lesen take haben or sein in the Perfekt?
Haben: ich habe gelesen, du hast gelesen, er/sie/es hat gelesen, wir haben gelesen, ihr habt gelesen, sie/Sie haben gelesen.
What is lesen in the Präteritum?
ich las, du last, er/sie/es las, wir lasen, ihr last, sie/Sie lasen.
What is lesen in the Futur I?
ich werde lesen, du wirst lesen, er/sie/es wird lesen, wir werden lesen, ihr werdet lesen, sie/Sie werden lesen.
What’s next
German irregular verbs
The Präsens, Präteritum and Perfekt of strong and mixed verbs in one table — with search and practice.
Open the table50 most common German words
The 50 most common German words with audio, examples and exercises.
See the wordsGerman level test
Grammar, vocabulary and reading from A1 to C1 — and your level of German.
Take the test
Grammar for this topic
Rules in plain words — with tables, examples and a quiz in every topic.
The Perfekt
The main past tense of spoken German: haben or sein and Partizip II.
Level A1–A2The Präteritum
The simple past: weak verbs in -te, strong verbs with a new stem, sein, haben and the modals.
Level A2–B1Modal verbs
können, müssen, wollen, dürfen, sollen, mögen — forms, meanings and the infinitive at the end.
Level A1–A2Konjunktiv II
würde, hätte, wäre, könnte — polite requests, wishes and advice.
Level A2–B1
Next step
Keep learning with a mini-course
Short online courses by Slay School teachers: a 15-minute lesson a day with audio, exercises and dialogues, and the words you forget come back on their own.
- Day 1 is free
- 15 minutes a day, at your own pace
- Every word has audio
- Lifetime access once paid
All you need to start is an email or a Google account.