Sein conjugation: learn the forms of “to be”.

sein: present, past and Perfekt

Lowercase sie can mean “she” or “they”; capitalized Sie is formal “you” and takes the plural verb form. The English translation of a German past tense depends on context.

Recognize the Konjunktiv II

These forms express hypothetical situations or wishes. They are not interchangeable with the ordinary past tense.

Describe a person, a condition or a place

Use sein to say who someone is, how something is, or where someone is. There is no single regular stem to attach the present endings to: learn the short forms with their pronouns.

• Ich bin heute zu Hause.

  I am at home today.

• Meine Schwester ist Ärztin.

  My sister is a doctor.

  A profession after sein usually has no indefinite article when it is unmodified.

• Wir sind mit dem Ergebnis zufrieden.

  We are happy with the result.

Turn the statement into a question

In a yes/no question, put the finite verb before the subject. With a question word, that word comes first and the finite verb follows.

• Bist du morgen hier?

  Will you be here tomorrow?

• Wo sind die Schlüssel?

  Where are the keys?

• Warum seid ihr so leise?

  Why are you being so quiet?

War, gewesen and sein as a helper

The Präteritum form war and the Perfekt bin gewesen both refer to the past. German and English do not divide the uses of their past tenses in exactly the same way, so translate the whole sentence.

Sein also helps form the Perfekt of some other verbs. Learn the auxiliary with the verb: kommen → ist gekommen. Do not turn this into a rule that every verb involving movement must take sein.

• Gestern war ich im Büro.

  Yesterday I was at the office.

• Wir sind schon einmal in Wien gewesen.

  We have been to Vienna before.

• Der Zug ist spät angekommen.

  The train arrived late.

Three small distinctions worth remembering

Ihr seid means “you are” when addressing several people informally. Seit means “since” or “for” in a time expression.

The verb sein also shares its spelling with the possessive sein, “his” or “its.” In sein Fahrrad, sein belongs with the noun; it is not the verb “to be.”

Use wäre for a hypothetical situation, rather than substituting war. To make a request, the imperative forms include sei, seid and seien Sie.

• Seid ihr seit Montag hier?

  Have you been here since Monday?

• Mit mehr Zeit wäre ich entspannter.

  With more time, I would be more relaxed.

• Sei bitte vorsichtig.

  Please be careful.