Sein and Haben
Sein and Haben
Now let's look at the present tense of sein and haben because sein and haben are definitely the most frequently used verbs in German, as with English to be and to have. This is because they are used as auxiliaries to form several tenses. You see that sein is quite "irregular" as in English.
You have already encountered some of their forms in our text. Here you have all the forms of the present tense.
| Infinitive | sein | haben |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person/singular | ich bin | ich habe |
| 2nd person/singular | du bist | du hast |
| 3rd person/singular | er, sie, es ist | er, sie, es hat |
| 1st person/plural | wir sind | wir haben |
| 2nd person/plural | ihr seid | ihr habt |
| 3rd person/plural | sie sind | sie haben |
| 2nd person formal | Sie sind | Sie haben |
Remember, the formal is identical with the 3rd person plural. However, you capitalize Sie.
Take a good look at the table above, and get used to the way it is laid out. You will be seeing many such tables for verbs this year. After the first chapter, however, we will stop including the 2nd person formal - you will have to figure that one out for yourself.