Erinnern Conjugation in German

erinnern means “to remember” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 56 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about remembering my friend of the appointment, and because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of erinnern — every tense, every person, both participles and the infinitive — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Ich erinnere meinen Freund an den Termin jeden Tag.” — “I remember my friend of the appointment every day.”

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: erinnern
  • English: to remember
  • Verb type: Regular
  • Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
  • Pattern: weak
  • Separable: no
  • Participle I: erinnernd
  • Past participle (Partizip II): geerinnert
  • Auxiliary: haben (all perfect tenses are formed with haben + the past participle)

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for erinnern, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read erinnern in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.

Three things to remember about erinnern

  1. It is regular: every form follows the ordinary weak pattern, so once you know the stem you can build the whole table. The only work is learning the endings, not memorising exceptions.
  2. The perfect tenses use haben: the perfect is formed with haben in the present plus the past participle geerinnert. The tables on this page give the participle in the uninflected form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
  3. Partizip I is erinnernd and Partizip II is geerinnert: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because Partizip I appears in adjectival uses and Partizip II appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for erinnern. Learn the present tense first, then the Perfekt and the preterite, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.

Present (Präsens)

Person Form
ich erinnere
du erinnerst
er/sie/es erinnert
wir erinnern
ihr erinnert
sie/Sie erinnern

The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Ich erinnere meine Schwester an die Party jeden Tag.” — “I remember my sister of the party every day.”

Preterite (Präteritum)

Person Form
ich erinnerte
du erinnertest
er/sie/es erinnerte
wir erinnerten
ihr erinnertet
sie/Sie erinnerten

The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. For example: “Du erinnertest meine Schwester an die Party gestern.” — “You remembered my sister of the party yesterday.”

Perfect (Perfekt)

Person Form
ich habe geerinnert
du hast geerinnert
er/sie/es hat geerinnert
wir haben geerinnert
ihr habt geerinnert
sie/Sie haben geerinnert

The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er hat meine Schwester an die Party geerinnert gestern.” — “He has remembered my sister of the party yesterday.”

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

Person Form
ich hatte geerinnert
du hattest geerinnert
er/sie/es hatte geerinnert
wir hatten geerinnert
ihr hattet geerinnert
sie/Sie hatten geerinnert

The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten meine Schwester an die Party geerinnert vor der Party.” — “We had remembered my sister of the party before the party.”

Future (Futur I)

Person Form
ich werde erinnern
du wirst erinnern
er/sie/es wird erinnern
wir werden erinnern
ihr werdet erinnern
sie/Sie werden erinnern

The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde meine Schwester an die Party erinnern morgen.” — “I will remember my sister of the party tomorrow.”

Future perfect (Futur II)

Person Form
ich werde geerinnert haben
du wirst geerinnert haben
er/sie/es wird geerinnert haben
wir werden geerinnert haben
ihr werdet geerinnert haben
sie/Sie werden geerinnert haben

The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst meine Schwester an die Party geerinnert haben bis morgen.” — “You will have remembered my sister of the party by tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv I

Person Form
ich erinnere
du erinnerest
er/sie/es erinnere
wir erinnern
ihr erinnert
sie/Sie erinnern

Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er erinnere meine Schwester an die Party.” — “It is important that he remember my sister of the party.”

Konjunktiv II

Person Form
ich erinnerte
du erinnertest
er/sie/es erinnerte
wir erinnerten
ihr erinnertet
sie/Sie erinnerten

Konjunktiv II is used for wishes, hypothetical situations and polite requests. It doubles as the conditional: there is no separate würde tense in the tables, and the periphrastic alternative with würde plus the infinitive is a way of expressing the same meaning, not a tense of its own. For example: “Ich erinnerte meine Schwester an die Party eines Tages.” — “I would remember my sister of the party one day.”

Conditional perfect

Person Form
ich hätte geerinnert
du hättest geerinnert
er/sie/es hätte geerinnert
wir hätten geerinnert
ihr hättet geerinnert
sie/Sie hätten geerinnert

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte meine Schwester an die Party geerinnert gestern.” — “He would have remembered my sister of the party yesterday.”

Imperative

Person Form
du erinner
wir erinnern
ihr erinnert
sie erinnern

The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Erinner meine Schwester an die Party!” — “Remember my sister of the party!”

Present participle (Partizip I)

Form German
Present participle erinnernd

The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle erinnernd describes something that is remembering. The present-tense sentence “Ich erinnere meinen Freund an den Termin jeden Tag.” — “I remember my friend of the appointment every day.” shows the same verb in action.

Past participle (Partizip II)

Form German
Past participle geerinnert

The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe meinen Freund an den Termin geerinnert gestern.” — “I have remembered my friend of the appointment yesterday.”

Infinitive

Form German
Infinitive erinnern

The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive erinnern is the form you look up in a dictionary. In a sentence it appears after a modal verb or with zu, and in the future it follows werden, as in “Ich werde meinen Freund an den Termin erinnern morgen.” — “I will remember my friend of the appointment tomorrow.”

Example sentences

Ten natural sentences with erinnern, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.

  1. “Ich erinnere meinen Freund an den Termin jeden Tag.” — “I remember my friend of the appointment every day.”
  2. “Du erinnertest meine Schwester an die Party gestern.” — “You remembered my sister of the party yesterday.”
  3. “Er hat meinen Bruder an das Treffen geerinnert gestern.” — “He has remembered my brother of the meeting yesterday.”
  4. “Wir hatten meinen Freund an den Termin geerinnert vor der Party.” — “We had remembered my friend of the appointment before the party.”
  5. “Ich werde meine Schwester an die Party erinnern morgen.” — “I will remember my sister of the party tomorrow.”
  6. “Du wirst meinen Bruder an das Treffen geerinnert haben bis morgen.” — “You will have remembered my brother of the meeting by tomorrow.”
  7. “Es ist wichtig, dass er erinnere meinen Freund an den Termin.” — “It is important that he remember my friend of the appointment.”
  8. “Ich erinnerte meine Schwester an die Party eines Tages.” — “I would remember my sister of the party one day.”
  9. “Er hätte meinen Bruder an das Treffen geerinnert gestern.” — “He would have remembered my brother of the meeting yesterday.”
  10. “Erinner meinen Freund an den Termin!” — “Remember my friend of the appointment!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich erinnern meinen Freund an den Termin.”

✓ Right: “Ich erinnere meinen Freund an den Termin.”

The infinitive erinnern never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form erinnere.

2. Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Ich erinnern meinen Freund an den Termin.”

✓ Right: “Ich erinnere meinen Freund an den Termin.”

erinnern is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with erinnere.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich erinnere meinen Freund an den Termin gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe meinen Freund an den Termin geerinnert gestern.”

The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe geerinnert, not the present.

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich erinnere meinen Freund an den Termin.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich erinnere meinen Freund an den Termin.”

After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use erinnere here, not the indicative erinnere.

5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich bin geerinnert meinen Freund an den Termin.”

✓ Right: “habe geerinnert meinen Freund an den Termin.”

The Perfekt of erinnern is formed with haben plus the past participle geerinnert: the ich form is habe geerinnert. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.

6. Using the preterite for a daily habit

✗ Wrong: “Ich erinnerte meinen Freund an den Termin jeden Tag.”

✓ Right: “Ich erinnere meinen Freund an den Termin jeden Tag.”

The preterite erinnerte describes a past action. For something you do every day, use the present erinnere.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on erinnern. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the ich form of erinnern in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) erinnere
    • B) erinnerst
    • C) erinnert
    • D) erinnern

  2. What is the du form of erinnern in the Preterite (Präteritum)?

    • A) erinnertet
    • B) erinnertest
    • C) erinnerte
    • D) erinnerten

  3. What is the er/sie/es form of erinnern in the Perfect (Perfekt)?

    • A) hat geerinnert
    • B) habe geerinnert
    • C) hast geerinnert
    • D) haben geerinnert

  4. What is the wir form of erinnern in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?

    • A) hattet geerinnert
    • B) hatten geerinnert
    • C) hatte geerinnert
    • D) hattest geerinnert

  5. What is the du form of erinnern in the Future (Futur I)?

    • A) wird erinnern
    • B) werden erinnern
    • C) wirst erinnern
    • D) werde erinnern

  6. What is the ich form of erinnern in the Future perfect (Futur II)?

    • A) werde geerinnert haben
    • B) wirst geerinnert haben
    • C) wird geerinnert haben
    • D) werden geerinnert haben

  7. What is the er/sie/es form of erinnern in the Konjunktiv I?

    • A) erinnere
    • B) erinnerest
    • C) erinnern
    • D) erinnert

  8. What is the ich form of erinnern in the Konjunktiv II?

    • A) erinnerte
    • B) erinnertest
    • C) erinnerten
    • D) erinnertet

  9. What is the present participle (Partizip I) of erinnern?

    • A) hoffend
    • B) wünschend
    • C) fürchtend
    • D) erinnernd

  10. What does erinnern mean in English?

  • A) to wish
  • B) to fear
  • C) to remember
  • D) to hope

Answer key

  1. A) erinnere — the ich form of erinnern in the Present (Präsens) is erinnere. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. B) erinnertest — the du form of erinnern in the Preterite (Präteritum) is erinnertest. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. A) hat geerinnert — the er/sie/es form of erinnern in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat geerinnert. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. B) hatten geerinnert — the wir form of erinnern in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatten geerinnert. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. C) wirst erinnern — the du form of erinnern in the Future (Futur I) is wirst erinnern. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. A) werde geerinnert haben — the ich form of erinnern in the Future perfect (Futur II) is werde geerinnert haben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. A) erinnere — the er/sie/es form of erinnern in the Konjunktiv I is erinnere. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) erinnerte — the ich form of erinnern in the Konjunktiv II is erinnerte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. D) erinnernd — the present participle (Partizip I) of erinnern is erinnernd. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. C) to remember — erinnern means “to remember” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does erinnern mean in English?

erinnern means “to remember”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is erinnern regular or irregular?

erinnern is regular: it follows the ordinary weak pattern in every tense. Partizip I is erinnernd and Partizip II is geerinnert.

What are the participles of erinnern?

Partizip I is erinnernd — use it as an adjective. Partizip II is geerinnert — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe geerinnert.

Which auxiliary does erinnern take in the Perfekt?

erinnern takes haben in the Perfekt: the ich form is habe geerinnert. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with haben plus the past participle geerinnert.

How do I say “I remember” in German?

Say “Ich erinnere meinen Freund an den Termin jeden Tag.” — “I remember my friend of the appointment every day.” The ich form of the present is erinnere, and it is the form you will use most often.

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