Ärgern: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Ärgern means “to annoy”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in German — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for ärgern, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with ärgern, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich ärgere meinen Bruder jeden Tag.” — “I annoy my brother every day.”
- “Du ärgerst meine Schwester jeden Tag.” — “You annoy my sister every day.”
- “Ich habe meinen Freund geärgert gestern.” — “I have annoyed my friend yesterday.”
- “Er ärgerte meinen Bruder gestern.” — “He annoyed my brother yesterday.”
- “Wir werden meine Schwester ärgern morgen.” — “We will annoy my sister tomorrow.”
- “Du hast meinen Freund geärgert gestern.” — “You have annoyed my friend yesterday.”
- “Ich ärgerte meinen Bruder eines Tages.” — “I would annoy my brother one day.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass er ärgere meine Schwester.” — “It is important that he annoy my sister.”
- “Wir hatten meinen Freund geärgert vor der Party.” — “We had annoyed my friend before the party.”
- “Er wird meinen Bruder ärgern morgen.” — “He will annoy my brother tomorrow.”
- “Sie ärgern meine Schwester jeden Tag.” — “They annoy my sister every day.”
- “Ärger meinen Freund!” — “Annoy my friend!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about my brother. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how ärgern changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of ärgern below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Du ärgerst meinen Bruder jeden Tag.” — “You annoy my brother every day.” Jonas: “Ich ärgere meinen Bruder jeden Tag.” — “I annoy my brother every day.” Lena: “Du wirst meine Schwester ärgern morgen.” — “You will annoy my sister tomorrow.” Jonas: “Ich werde meine Schwester ärgern morgen.” — “I will annoy my sister tomorrow.” Lena: “Du hast meinen Freund geärgert gestern.” — “You have annoyed my friend yesterday.” Jonas: “Ich habe meinen Freund geärgert gestern.” — “I have annoyed my friend yesterday.” Lena: “Du ärgertest meinen Bruder eines Tages.” — “You would annoy my brother one day.” Jonas: “Ich ärgerte meinen Bruder eines Tages.” — “I would annoy my brother one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the Perfekt for yesterday, and Konjunktiv II for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Ärgern in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of ärgern that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, ärgern describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is ärgere: “Ich ärgere meinen Bruder jeden Tag.” — “I annoy my brother every day.”
The preterite: the past in stories
In the preterite, ärgern describes a completed past action, mostly in writing and stories. The er form is ärgerte: “Er ärgerte meine Schwester gestern.” — “He annoyed my sister yesterday.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, ärgern reports one finished action, built with haben plus the participle geärgert. The ich form is habe geärgert: “Ich habe meinen Freund geärgert gestern.” — “I have annoyed my friend yesterday.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, ärgern talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden ärgern: “Wir werden meinen Bruder ärgern morgen.” — “We will annoy my brother tomorrow.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, ärgern talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the conditional, and the periphrastic alternative with würde plus the infinitive expresses the same meaning. The du form is ärgertest: “Du ärgertest meine Schwester eines Tages.” — “You would annoy my sister one day.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In Konjunktiv I, ärgern appears in reported speech, after triggers such as es ist wichtig, dass. The form is ärgere, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich ärgere meinen Freund.” — “It is important that I annoy my friend.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich ärgern meinen Bruder.”
✓ Right: “Ich ärgere meinen Bruder.”
The infinitive ärgern never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form ärgere.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du ärgere meinen Bruder.”
✓ Right: “Du ärgerst meinen Bruder.”
ärgere is the ich form. With du you need ärgerst. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich ärgere meinen Bruder gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe meinen Bruder geärgert gestern.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe geärgert, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du ärgerst meine Schwester.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du ärgerest meine Schwester.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I: ärgerest, not the indicative ärgerst.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich geärgert meinen Bruder.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe meinen Bruder geärgert.”
The Perfekt of ärgern needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle geärgert: the full ich form is habe geärgert.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on ärgern. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of ärgern in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) ärgerst
- B) ärgert
- C) ärgern
- D) ärgere
What is the du form of ärgern in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) ärgern
- B) ärgerst
- C) ärgere
- D) ärgert
What is the er/sie/es form of ärgern in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) habe geärgert
- B) hast geärgert
- C) haben geärgert
- D) hat geärgert
What is the wir form of ärgern in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) ärgertet
- B) ärgerten
- C) ärgerte
- D) ärgertest
What is the du form of ärgern in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werden ärgern
- B) wirst ärgern
- C) werde ärgern
- D) wird ärgern
What is the ich form of ärgern in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) ärgertest
- B) ärgerten
- C) ärgertet
- D) ärgerte
What is the er/sie/es form of ärgern in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) ärgerest
- B) ärgern
- C) ärgert
- D) ärgere
What is the ich form of ärgern in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatten geärgert
- B) hattet geärgert
- C) hatte geärgert
- D) hattest geärgert
What is the past participle (Partizip II) of ärgern?
- A) geärgert
- B) gewartet
- C) angekommen
- D) abgefahren
What does ärgern mean in English?
- A) to annoy
- B) to wait
- C) to arrive
- D) to depart
Answer key
- D) ärgere — the ich form of ärgern in the Present (Präsens) is ärgere. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) ärgerst — the du form of ärgern in the Present (Präsens) is ärgerst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) hat geärgert — the er/sie/es form of ärgern in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat geärgert. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) ärgerten — the wir form of ärgern in the Preterite (Präteritum) is ärgerten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) wirst ärgern — the du form of ärgern in the Future (Futur I) is wirst ärgern. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) ärgerte — the ich form of ärgern in the Konjunktiv II is ärgerte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) ärgere — the er/sie/es form of ärgern in the Konjunktiv I is ärgere. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hatte geärgert — the ich form of ärgern in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte geärgert. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) geärgert — the past participle of ärgern is geärgert. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- A) to annoy — ärgern means “to annoy” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does ärgern mean in English?
ärgern means “to annoy”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is ärgern regular or irregular?
ärgern is regular in every tense. Partizip I is ärgernd and Partizip II is geärgert.
How do I practise ärgern every day?
Say one sentence with ärgern in the present, one in the Perfekt and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Ich ärgere meinen Bruder jeden Tag.”, “Ich habe meinen Bruder geärgert gestern.” and “Ich werde meinen Bruder ärgern morgen.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for ärgern, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of ärgern — every tense of ärgern in one place.
- Ärgern in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Ärgern examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Warten conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Ankommen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Abfahren conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise ärgern with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise ärgern with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise ärgern with the interactive tool.