lesen
to read
Ranks #250 by frequency — outside the core hundred, but common in everyday life.
- Type
- verb
- Frequency rank
- #250
- Per million words
- 157
In a sentence
Ich lese ein Buch.I am reading a book.
Conjugation
Present tense of lesen, plus the forms you need to talk about the past.
| ich — I | lese |
|---|---|
| du — you | liest |
| er/sie/es — he / she / it | liest |
| wir — we | lesen |
| ihr — you (plural) | lest |
| sie — they | lesen |
| Perfect | hat gelesen |
| Simple past | las |
Forms its perfect tense with haben.
lesen is a stem-changing verb: the vowel shifts in the du and er/sie/es forms. Those two are worth memorising separately.
Related words
Other words of the same kind, at nearby frequency:
- arbeiten to work
- schreiben to write
- lernen to learn
- fahren to drive, to travel
- schlafen to sleep
- kaufen to buy
Practise this word
lesen is in the free trainer along with the rest of the list — flashcards, multiple choice, listening practice and spaced review. No account needed.