Learning ‘lesen’ is tricky because German verbs have more conjugation options compared to English verbs –so there’s more that our brains have to remember!
Key Takeaways
- ‘Lesen’ (‘to read’) is a commonly used infinitive verb in German.
- there are more ‘lesen’ conjugation options than what we have in English.
- you need to learn ‘lesen’ conjugations for multiple tenses and moods.
How is ‘Lesen’ Used in German?
Knowing how to correctly use ‘lesen’ in its many diverse forms allows you to speak masterfully in German in a wide variety of contexts.
‘Lesen’ allows you to talk about yourself and others ‘reading’ (I read the book in one day. Will you read me a story? Read the instructions before you start! etc.) in all manner of situations past, present, future, and hypothetical.
You’ll use ‘lesen’ in order to …
- ✅ Talk about reading any kind of written material, including music
- ✅ Utilize idioms or even additional definitions of ‘lesen’ (e.g. ‘to detect’)
- ✅ Say that you (or someone else) reads, will read, will have read, etc.
What Are The 6 Conjugations of ‘Lesen’?
The 6 conjugations of ‘lesen’ in the present tense line up with our 6 subject pronouns to give us ‘ich lese’, ‘du liest’, ‘er / sie / es liest’, ‘wir lesen’, ‘ihr lest’, and ‘sie lesen.’
There are, of course, even more forms of ‘lesen’ in other tenses (and moods).
But it’s best to first focus strictly on the present tense conjugations of ‘lesen’, so let’s look at it side-by-side with the English ‘to read’:
‘Lesen’ (in English)
| I read |
| you read |
| he/she/it reads |
| we read |
| they read |
‘Lesen’ in German is ‘to read’ in English. And in the present tense, we have two possible conjugations: ‘read’, and ‘reads’.
In the case of ‘read’, it is recycled –that is, it’s used with multiple different pronouns (i.e. I, you, we, they). It’s only he/she/it that uses its own unique conjugation ‘reads’.
Those same conjugations in German look like this:
‘Lesen’ (Present Tense) English vs German
Comparing German & English
It’s important to notice the patterns of similarities and differences at this point.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Where does German ‘recycle’ the same conjugations?
- Are the German & English changes to ‘lesen’ (to read) occurring with equivalent pronouns?
- Which language includes more changes compared to the other?
‘Lesen’ in the Present Tense
The present tense conjugations of ‘lesen’ are ich lese, du liest, er / sie / es liest, wir lesen, ihr lest, and sie lesen.
Put into a typical conjugation table, these options are presented like this:
Present Tense Conjugation Chart:
| ich lese | wir lesen |
| du liest | ihr lest |
| er/sie/es liest | sie lesen |
You truly haven’t even begun to learn ‘lesen’ until you know ALL the nominative case pronouns and which form of ‘lesen’ each of them takes.
To talk about the conjugations of ‘lesen’ used by the various pronouns, we have to work backward by starting with the pronouns.
And in order to understand nominative case (i.e. subject) pronouns, we need to talk about the grammar concept of ‘persons’.
What are ‘persons’?
The ‘persons’ (I, you, they, etc.) are split into two categories that interact with each other:
There are 3 subcategories of ‘persons’ (1st Person, 2nd Person, and 3rd Person) and each of these has a ‘singular’ and a ‘plural’ variant.
When we intersect this information on Y and X axes, we get these ultra-familiar English subject pronouns:
English Subject Pronouns Chart
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | I | we |
| 2nd | you | you |
| 3rd | he/she/it | they |
Now, here is the German version of the same table of subject pronouns:
German Subject Pronouns Chart
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | ich | wir |
| 2nd | du | ihr |
| 3rd | er/sie/es | sie |
German & English Pronouns Side-by-Side
Where do English and German line up and where are there differences?
English and German have 1-to-1 equivalents for all pronouns … except that German has extra pronouns for ‘you’ (highlighted).
FULL German Subject Pronouns Chart
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | ich | wir |
| 2nd (informal) | du | ihr |
| (formal) | Sie | Sie |
| 3rd | er/sie/es | sie |
Understanding the ‘ihr’ plural of ‘du’ is straightforward enough: Americans might relate it to the concept of y’all. We’re simply talking to multiple ‘you’s at the same time.
But what is the deal with the singular and plural ‘Sie’?
Formal vs. Informal ‘You’
If you took high school Spanish, you’ve already been exposed to the idea of ‘you’ having an informal version and a formal version (e.g. ‘tu’ [informal] and ‘Usted’ [formal]).
It’s the exact same idea in German.
We need to use the formal ‘you’ when we address …
- someone we don’t intimately know
- someone to whom we want to show additional respect
- someone in a relative position of authority
Of course, these separate categories have some obvious potential overlaps in that many times we perceive others as authority figures whom we also genuinely respect and with whom we wouldn’t go out to a pub for a beer because we don’t know them intimately enough.
When to Use the Formal ‘Sie’
As you can see in the table, if you’re using the formal address ‘Sie’, it doesn’t matter if you’re talking to one person or multiple –the pronoun AND its conjugation of ‘lesen’ stays the same:
German Subject Pronoun & ‘Lesen’ Conjugations Chart:
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | Ich lese | wir lesen |
| 2nd (informal) | du liest | ihr lest |
| (formal) | Sie lesen | Sie lese |
| 3rd | er/sie/es liest | sie lesen |
In German, you generally need to use this formal version of ‘you’ if you’re talking with…
- professionals (e.g. clerks, police officers, doctors, plumbers, etc.)
- leaders (e.g. priests, politicians, choir directors, bosses, etc.)
- elders (e.g. anyone clearly at least a generation older than you are)
Examples of ‘Lesen’
Knowing how to use ‘lesen’ in the present tense for all the 1st, 2nd (formal and informal) and 3rd persons, singular and plural, is exactly what you should know for now.
1st Person, Singular & Plural
Ich lese die Zeitung. (I am reading the newspaper.)
Ich lese schnell. (I am reading fast.)
Wir lesen die Zeitung. (We are reading the newspaper.)
Wir lesen schnell. (We are reading fast.)
2nd Person (Informal), Singular & Plural
Du liest die Zeitung. (You are reading the newspaper.)
Du liest schnell. (You are reading fast.)
Ihr lest die Zeitung. (You are reading the newspaper.)
Ihr lest schnell. (You are reading fast.)
2nd Person (Formal), Singular & Plural
Sie lesen die Zeitung. (You are reading the newspaper.)
Sie lesen schnell. (You are reading fast.)
Sie lesen die Zeitung. (You are reading the newspaper.)
Sie lesen schnell. (You are reading fast.)
3rd Person, Singular & Plural
Der Vater liest die Zeitung. (The father is reading the newspaper.)
Der Vater liest schnell. (The father is reading fast.)
Die Väter lesen (die) Zeitung. (The fathers are reading the newspaper.)
Die Väter lesen schnell. (The fathers are reading fast.)
Learning all of this is a big task for almost every German learner.
I’ll teach you step-by-step.
Skills You’ll Need to Use ‘Lesen’ Conjugations:
‘Lesen’ makes it possible to talk about not only ‘reading’ but also some other definitions of ‘lesen’ (e.g. gathering / plucking [e.g. grapes], detecting signals, lecturing, proofreading, and more) in all manner of situations past, present, future, and hypothetical.
‘Lesen’ is such a common, everyday verb that you can’t masterfully speak German if you don’t understand how to use its various conjugations.
You’ll use ‘lesen’ in order to …
- ✅ Talk about reading books, newspapers, forms, signage, etc.
- ✅ Communicate about scanning, misreading, proofreading, etc.
- ✅ Use common idioms (e.g. ‘reading between the lines’ and more!’)
- ✅ Talk about ‘reading’ in the past, present, and future (I will read…, etc.)
- ✅ Speak hypothetically (e.g. I would have read, if only …)
- ✅ Give a command or make a suggestion (e.g. ‘read this!’)
Building Blocks You Need For ‘Lesen’
‘Lesen’ conjugations empower you to express yourself in a LOT of different ways. You need to correctly wield ‘lesen’ in a variety of contexts in order to speak German capably, comfortably, and confidently.
To correctly use ‘lesen’ in various tenses and moods, to give commands or offer suggestions, or to speak hypothetically, you need to build these foundational skills:
- Know the subject [i.e. nominative] pronouns for all singular & plural persons.
- Learn the present and simple past tense conjugations of ‘lesen’ for all persons.
- Learn the ‘lesen’ conjugations for the conditional, subjunctive, and imperative moods.
- Know when to use the infinitive form vs. past participle of ‘lesen’.
Terminology Explained
subject pronouns are the words ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’, ‘we’ and ‘they’ in English. German has these same options BUT also three more! These pronouns are categorized as ‘persons’ that are either singular (e.g. ‘I’) or plural (e.g. ‘we’).
conjugations are slight changes to a verb that line up with different ‘persons’ –for example, ‘I read’ (base verb) vs. ‘he reads’ (with the added s’). English generally has only these two conjugations, but German typically uses four conjugations.
tense & mood are simply variants of a verb such as present tense (‘I read’), past tense (‘I read’), future tense (‘I will read’), and subjunctive mood (‘I would read, [if]…’). German and English have all the same verb tenses and moods and they function similarly.
infinitive verbs are the base form of German verbs and typically end with an -en that is removed (producing the ‘root’ /’stem’) before then adding on conjugations. Also, some particular sentence formulations utilize a verb (or even two) in its infinitive form.
past participles are a form of a verb that is used to formulate the 3 ‘perfect’ tenses and also in the utilization of the passive voice. Every verb has just one past participle that is used by all persons in conjunction with a ‘helping verb’ (either ‘haben’ or ‘sein’).
“HELP! This Feels Overwhelming!”
This can understandably feel like a LOT, but the good news is that you DON’T have to fully master all the applications of ‘lesen’ right now as a beginner learner –which also means you don’t have to have all the relevant lingo totally down yet, either.
The ideal place to start is by learning just the German subject pronouns and the present tense conjugations of ‘lesen’. We covered this in depth above, but here is the table with both pieces of information, again, here:
Repetitious, simple sentences (like the examples I gave you above in an earlier section) will help you drill these present tense ‘lesen’ conjugations into your memory.
And since all the subject pronouns are exactly the same no matter what German verb conjugations we’re learning, we’ll get lots of mileage out of learning our ‘ich’ and ‘du’, etc.
If you’re beyond a beginner level already, you’ll see those ‘ich’s and ‘du’s repeated again and again in the following tables of ALL the ‘lesen’ conjugations.
Learning all of this is a big task for almost every German learner.
I’ll teach you step-by-step.
‘Lesen’ Conjugations in ALL Tenses & Moods
‘Lesen’ is used in 6 tenses (of the indicative mood), and in two additional moods (the subjunctive and imperative). We use ‘lesen’ to talk about ‘reading’ in the past, present, and future (e.g. I read, I read, I will read. ‘Lesen’ is also used to say ‘I wouldread’ (subjunctive) or to give a command such as ‘read the instructions carefully!’
For those of you who are ready for it, here are the full conjugation tables for ‘lesen’:
Indicative (Indikativ)
The indicative mood is how we talk most of the time: about real facts (He reads the poem with great emotion. I read about the accident. She will read to her child every day. They read about the history of the building.)
The indicative mood subcategories into SIX tenses in both English and German. Most of these tenses are used very similarly.
It’s essential to learn the Present Tense first, and then the Present Perfect. After that, you’ll get the most utility out of the Simple Future, then Simple Past, then Past Perfect, and then Future Perfect.
Present (Präsens)
| ‘LESEN’- Present Tense (Präsens) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich les(e) | wir lesen |
| 2nd | du liest | ihr lest |
| 3rd | er liest | sie lesen |
Simple Past (Präteritum)
| ‘LESEN’- Simple Past (Präteritum) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich las | wir lasen |
| 2nd | du las(es)t | ihr las(e)t |
| 3rd | er las | sie lasen |
Present Perfect (Perfekt)
| ‘LESEN’ – Present Perfect (Perfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich habe gelesen | wir haben gelesen |
| 2nd | du hast gelesen | ihr habt gelesen |
| 3rd | er hat gelesen | sie haben gelesen |
Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| ‘LESEN’ – Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich hatte gelesen | wir hatten gelesen |
| 2nd | du hattest gelesen | ihr hattet gelesen |
| 3rd | er hatte gelesen | sie hatten gelesen |
Simple Future (Futur I)
| ‘LESEN’ – Simple Future (Futur I) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde lesen | wir werden lesen |
| 2nd | du wirst lesen | ihr werdet lesen |
| 3rd | er wird lesen | sie werden lesen |
Future Perfect (Futur II)
| ‘LESEN’ – Future Perfect (Futur II) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde gelesen haben | wir werden gelesen haben |
| 2nd | du wirst gelesen haben | ihr werdet gelesen haben |
| 3rd | er wird gelesen haben | sie werden gelesen haben |
Important Notes on German Tenses
Although German and English HAVE all the same tenses, they aren’t necessarily all used the same way.
In German …
- The Present Tense covers three different English options: for example, I read, I do read, I am reading would ALL simply be ‘Ich lese’ in German.
- The Present Perfect Tense (which would technically translate to, e.g. I have read) actually correlates with English’s simple past (i.e. I read) in terms of usage.
- The Simple Future tense is frequently avoided in favor of the Present tense and a time adverbial.
- Two future events are often colloquially expressed by using the Simple Future + time adverbial + Present Tense instead of the more grammatically accurate Simple Future + Future Perfect. In spoken English, the Simple Future + time adverbial + Present Perfect is preferred.
Imperative (Imperativ)
The imperative mood is used in both English and German for giving commands. Note that a ‘du’ or ‘ihr’ subject is generally omitted, but that a ‘wir’ and ‘Sie’ must be present.
| ‘LESEN’- Imperative (Imperativ) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | lesen wir! | |
| 2nd Informal | lies [du]! | lest [ihr]! |
| 2nd Formal | lesen Sie! | lesen Sie! |
| 3rd | ||
Subjunctive (Konjunktiv)
The subjunctive mood is used in both English and German (but much more frequently in German!) to communicate hypothetical (i.e. not factual [indicative]) situations.
The subjunctive can be used to communicate a present or future likelihood (but not certainty) OR a complete impossibility in the past, present, or future.
The subjunctive is also used for expressing polite requests vs. the commands of the imperative mood.
Present Subjunctive (Konjunktiv I)
| ‘LESEN’- Present Subjunctive (Konjunktiv I) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich lese | wir lesen |
| 2nd | du lesest | ihr leset |
| 3rd | er lese | sie lesen |
Past Subjunctive (Konjunktiv II)
| ‘LESEN’- Past Subjunctive (Konjunktiv II) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich läse | wir läsen |
| 2nd | du läsest | ihr läset |
| 3rd | er läse | sie läsen |
Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Perfekt)
| ‘LESEN’ – Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Perfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich habe gelesen | wir haben gelesen |
| 2nd | du habest gelesen | ihr habet gelesen |
| 3rd | er habe gelesen | sie haben gelesen |
Past Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Plusquamperfekt)
| ‘LESEN’ – Past Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Plusquamperfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich hätte gelesen | wir hätten gelesen |
| 2nd | du hättest gelesen | ihr hättet gelesen |
| 3rd | er hätte gelesen | sie hätten gelesen |
Future Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur I)
| ‘LESEN’ – Future Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur I) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde lesen | wir werden lesen |
| 2nd | du werdest lesen | ihr werdet lesen |
| 3rd | er werde lesen | sie werden lesen |
Future Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur II)
| ‘LESEN’ – Future Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur II) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde gelesen haben | wir werden gelesen haben |
| 2nd | du werdest gelesen haben | ihr werdet gelesen haben |
| 3rd | er werde gelesen haben | sie werden gelesen haben |
Common Confusion
Is it ‘gelesen’ or ‘lesen’?
‘Lesen’ is the infinitive verb that then needs to be conjugated for the different persons. ‘Gelesen’ is the past participle form of ‘lesen’ that needs to be used when working with the Perfekt, Plusquam., Futur II, the passive voice, and various forms of the subjunctive mood.
Is it ‘gelesen’ or ‘laß’?
‘Las’ is the form of ‘lesen’ used specifically for ‘ich’ and ‘er/sie/es’ in the past tense. ‘Gelesen’ is the past participle used –along with a conjugated ‘helping verb’– for all persons in the Perfekt, Plusquam., Futur II, the passive voice, and various forms of the subjunctive mood.
Is it ‘liest’ or ‘lest’?
Both ‘liest’ and ‘lest’ are conjugated forms of ‘lesen’ in the present tense. The persons ‘du,’ and ‘er/sie/es’ will use ‘liest’ while ‘ihr’ will use ‘lest.’
Is ‘lesen’ an accusative or dative verb?
‘Lesen’ is an accusative verb, which means the verb requires an accusative object to make a complete sentence. We have to know who is reading what (a newspaper, etc.).
Rapid Q&A
Is ‘lesen’ an irregular verb?
Yes! The term ‘irregular verb’ is another way of saying ‘strong verb’. All strong verbs will take a vowel change in the simple past tense, some take an additional vowel change in their past participles, and some –such as ‘lesen’– even take a vowel change in the present tense (but just for ‘du’ and ‘er / sie / es’).
Is ‘lesen’ a strong verb?
It is! You will see a vowel change (i.e., ‘du liest’) with the conjugations for du and er/sie/es in the present tense. There are additional vowel changes that occur for all strong verbs in the simple past tense and sometimes for their past participles, too. The 3 forms of ‘lesen’ are ‘liest / las / hat gelesen.’
What is the imperative form of ‘lesen’?
The imperative form of ‘lesen’ will change depending on which ‘person’ is being addressed. You might be more likely to see simply ‘lies’ which pairs with ‘du’. The imperative mood is used for commands such as “Read!” See above for more information on the imperative mood.
What is the present participle of ‘lesen’?
The present participle of ‘lesen’ is ‘lesend’. Learn more about present participles here.
What is the past participle of ‘lesen’?
The past participle of ‘lesen’ is ‘gelesen, and it pairs with ‘haben’ (vs. ‘sein’). ’
What is the infinitive of ‘lesen’?
‘Lesen’ is actually the infinitive form. You will see other present tense conjugations form from ‘lesen’, such as ‘liest’ and ‘lest.’
What are the 3 forms of ‘lesen’?
