Anrufen Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
How do you actually use anrufen — “to phone” — in a real sentence? This page shows you: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue, the mistakes learners make most often with this verb, and a quiz to test yourself. Every German form on this page comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for anrufen. Start with the simplest sentence: “Ich rufe meinen Freund am Abend an.” — “I call my friend in the evening.”
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for anrufen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Anrufen in real sentences
Twelve sentences with anrufen, covering the present, the Präteritum, the Perfekt, the Plusquamperfekt, the future, Konjunktiv I and II, and the imperative. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich rufe meinen Freund am Abend an.” — “I call my friend in the evening.”
- “Du rufst meinen Freund am Abend an.” — “You call my friend in the evening.”
- “Er ruft meinen Freund am Abend an.” — “He calls my friend in the evening.”
- “Ich rief meinen Freund am Abend an.” — “I called my friend in the evening.”
- “Wir riefen meinen Freund am Abend an.” — “We called my friend in the evening.”
- “Ich habe meinen Freund am Abend angerufen.” — “I have called my friend in the evening.”
- “Du hast meinen Freund am Abend angerufen.” — “You have called my friend in the evening.”
- “Ich hatte meinen Freund am Abend angerufen.” — “I had called my friend in the evening.”
- “Wir werden meinen Freund am Abend anrufen.” — “We will call my friend in the evening.”
- “Ich werde meinen Freund am Abend angerufen haben.” — “I will have called my friend in the evening.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass ich meinen Freund am Abend anrufe.” — “It is important that I call my friend in the evening.”
- “Ich riefe meinen Freund am Abend an.” — “I would call my friend in the evening if I could.”
- “Ich hätte meinen Freund am Abend angerufen.” — “I would have called my friend in the evening if I had been able to.”
- “Ruf meinen Freund am Abend an!” — “Call my friend in the evening!”
A short dialogue with anrufen
Anna and Ben talk about their plans. Every form of anrufen in the dialogue comes from the verified tables — read it aloud, changing the person each time.
Anna: “Du rufst meinen Freund am Abend an?” — “You call my friend in the evening?”
Ben: “Ich rufe meinen Freund am Abend an.” — “I call my friend in the evening.”
Anna: “Du hast meinen Freund am Abend angerufen?” — “You have called my friend in the evening?”
Ben: “Ich habe meinen Freund am Abend angerufen.” — “I have called my friend in the evening.”
Anna: “Du wirst meinen Freund am Abend anrufen?” — “You will call my friend in the evening?”
Ben: “Ich werde meinen Freund am Abend anrufen.” — “I will call my friend in the evening.”
Anna: “Ruf meinen Freund am Abend an!” — “Call my friend in the evening!”
Ben: “Ich rufe meinen Freund am Abend an.” — “I call my friend in the evening.”
Notice how the verb changes with the person and the tense while the meaning stays the same: rufe an, rufst an, habe angerufen, werde anrufen. If you can follow this dialogue without looking at the tables, you know anrufen well enough to use it.
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich anrufen meinen Freund am Abend.”
✓ Right: “Ich rufe meinen Freund am Abend an.”
The infinitive anrufen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form rufe an.
2. Confusing anrufen with telefonieren
✗ Wrong: “Ich telefonieren meinen Freund am Abend.” (using the wrong verb)
✓ Right: “Ich rufe meinen Freund am Abend an.”
anrufen means “to phone”; telefonieren means “to phone”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Forgetting to split the separable prefix
✗ Wrong: “Ich anrufen meinen Freund am Abend.” (prefix left attached to the stem)
✓ Right: “Ich rufe meinen Freund am Abend an.”
anrufen is separable: in finite forms the prefix an goes to the end of the clause — rufe an — and the participle keeps it attached with ge- in between (angerufen).
4. Using the indicative after a Konjunktiv I trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du meinen Freund am Abend anrufst.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du meinen Freund am Abend anrufest.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use rufest an here, not the indicative rufst an.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the ich form of anrufen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) rufe an
- B) rufst an
- C) rufen an
- D) ruft an
What is the er/sie/es form of anrufen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) rufe an
- B) rufst an
- C) rufen an
- D) ruft an
What is the du form of anrufen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) rieft an
- B) rief an
- C) riefst an
- D) riefen an
What is the wir form of anrufen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) haben angerufen
- B) hast angerufen
- C) habe angerufen
- D) habt angerufen
What is the ich form of anrufen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werde anrufen
- B) werden anrufen
- C) wirst anrufen
- D) wird anrufen
What is the du form of anrufen in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) riefe an
- B) riefest an
- C) riefen an
- D) riefet an
What is the ich form of anrufen in the Conditional perfect?
- A) hätten angerufen
- B) hättest angerufen
- C) hättet angerufen
- D) hätte angerufen
What is the past participle of anrufen?
- A) angerufen
- B) rief an
- C) anrufend
- D) rufe an
What is the present participle of anrufen?
- A) anrufend
- B) werde anrufen
- C) angerufen
- D) rufe an
What does anrufen mean in English?
- A) to come
- B) to phone
- C) to do
Answer key
- A) rufe an — the ich form of anrufen in the present tense is rufe an.
- D) ruft an — the er/sie/es form of anrufen in the present tense is ruft an.
- C) riefst an — the du form of anrufen in the preterite is riefst an.
- A) haben angerufen — the wir form of anrufen in the Perfekt is haben angerufen.
- A) werde anrufen — the ich form of anrufen in the Futur I is werde anrufen.
- B) riefest an — the du form of anrufen in the Konjunktiv II is riefest an.
- D) hätte angerufen — the ich form of anrufen in the conditional perfect is hätte angerufen.
- A) angerufen — the past participle of anrufen is angerufen; perfect tenses use haben + angerufen.
- A) anrufend — the present participle of anrufen is anrufend.
- B) to phone — anrufen means “to phone” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does anrufen mean in English?
anrufen means “to phone”. The examples above show it in everyday situations — for example, “Ich rufe meinen Freund am Abend an.” (“I call my friend in the evening.”).
Is anrufen regular or irregular?
anrufen is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The full tables are on the conjugation page.
How do I use anrufen in the Perfekt?
Use haben + the past participle angerufen: “Ich habe meinen Freund am Abend angerufen.” — “I have called my friend in the evening.” The full Perfekt table is on the anrufen in the Perfekt tense page.
Related pages
- anrufen conjugation — the full conjugation tables for this verb in every tense.
- anrufen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and uses for this verb in one tense.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- Einladen conjugation — another German verb to practise with.
- Treffen conjugation — another German verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise anrufen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise anrufen with the interactive tool.
- Perfect Tenses Builder — practise the perfect tenses with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.