sein
to be
The 3rd most frequent word in German, appearing about 26,624 times per million words.
- Type
- verb
- Frequency rank
- #3
- Per million words
- 26,624
Also means 'his' as a possessive: sein Auto = his car. Same spelling, different job.
In a sentence
Das kann nicht sein.That can't be.
Conjugation
Present tense of sein, plus the forms you need to talk about the past.
| ich — I | bin |
|---|---|
| du — you | bist |
| er/sie/es — he / she / it | ist |
| wir — we | sind |
| ihr — you (plural) | seid |
| sie — they | sind |
| Perfect | ist gewesen |
| Simple past | war |
Forms its perfect tense with sein.
Related words
Other words of the same kind, at nearby frequency:
- werden to become, will
- haben to have
- können can, to be able to
- geben to give
- sollen should, ought to
- müssen must, to have to
Practise this word
sein is in the free trainer along with the rest of the list — flashcards, multiple choice, listening practice and spaced review. No account needed.