Finden: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Finden means “to find”, 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 finden, 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 finden, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich finde meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.” — “I find my keys in the living room.”
- “Du findest ein gutes Restaurant in Berlin.” — “You find a good restaurant in Berlin.”
- “Ich habe die Antwort im Buch gefunden.” — “I have found the answer in the book.”
- “Er fand meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.” — “He found my keys in the living room.”
- “Wir werden ein gutes Restaurant in Berlin finden.” — “We will find a good restaurant in Berlin.”
- “Du hast die Antwort im Buch gefunden.” — “You have found the answer in the book.”
- “Ich fände meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.” — “I would find my keys in the living room.”
- “Er finde ein gutes Restaurant in Berlin.” — “He finds a good restaurant in Berlin.”
- “Wir hatten die Antwort im Buch gefunden.” — “We had found the answer in the book.”
- “Er wird meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer finden.” — “He will find my keys in the living room.”
- “Sie finden ein gutes Restaurant in Berlin.” — “They find a good restaurant in Berlin.”
- “Finde die Antwort im Buch!” — “Find the answer in the book!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about my keys in the living room. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how finden changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of finden below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Findest du meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer?” — “You find my keys in the living room?” Jonas: “Ich finde meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.” — “I find my keys in the living room.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde ein gutes Restaurant in Berlin finden.” — “I will find a good restaurant in Berlin.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe die Antwort im Buch gefunden.” — “I have found the answer in the book.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich fände meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.” — “I would find my keys in the living room.”
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.
Finden in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of finden that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, finden describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is finde: “Ich finde meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.” — “I find my keys in the living room.”
The preterite: the past as a finished event
In the preterite, finden describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is fand: “Er fand ein gutes Restaurant in Berlin.” — “He found a good restaurant in Berlin.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, finden reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle gefunden. The ich form is habe gefunden: “Ich habe die Antwort im Buch gefunden.” — “I have found the answer in the book.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, finden talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden finden: “Wir werden meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer finden.” — “We will find my keys in the living room.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, finden talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is fändest: “Du fändest ein gutes Restaurant in Berlin.” — “You would find a good restaurant in Berlin.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In reported speech, finden appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is finde: “Er finde die Antwort im Buch.” — “He finds the answer in the book.” Read it as a quotation — someone said this, and the sentence reports it.
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich finden meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.”
✓ Right: “Ich finde meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.”
The infinitive finden never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form finde.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du finde meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.”
✓ Right: “Du findest meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.”
finde is the ich form. With du you need findest. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich finde meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer gefunden.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gefunden, not the present.
Using the indicative in reported speech
✗ Wrong: “Ich finde meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.” (quoted as reported speech)
✓ Right: “Ich finde meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.” (quoted as reported speech)
In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: finde, not the indicative finde.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich gefunden meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer gefunden.”
The Perfekt of finden needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gefunden: the full ich form is habe gefunden.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on finden. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of finden in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) findet
- B) finden
- C) finde
- D) findest
What is the du form of finden in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) finde
- B) findet
- C) finden
- D) findest
What is the er/sie/es form of finden in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) habe gefunden
- B) hast gefunden
- C) haben gefunden
- D) hat gefunden
What is the wir form of finden in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) fanden
- B) fand
- C) fandest
- D) fandet
What is the du form of finden in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werde finden
- B) wird finden
- C) werden finden
- D) wirst finden
What is the ich form of finden in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) fändest
- B) fänden
- C) fändet
- D) fände
What is the er/sie/es form of finden in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) finden
- B) findet
- C) finde
- D) findest
What is the ich form of finden in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatten gefunden
- B) hattet gefunden
- C) hatte gefunden
- D) hattest gefunden
What is the past participle of finden?
- A) gefunden
- B) gestanden
- C) geblieben
- D) gelegen
What does finden mean in English?
- A) to find
- B) to stand
- C) to stay
- D) to lie
Answer key
- C) finde — the ich form of finden in the Present (Präsens) is finde. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) findest — the du form of finden in the Present (Präsens) is findest. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) hat gefunden — the er/sie/es form of finden in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gefunden. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) fanden — the wir form of finden in the Preterite (Präteritum) is fanden. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) wirst finden — the du form of finden in the Future (Futur I) is wirst finden. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) fände — the ich form of finden in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is fände. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) finde — the er/sie/es form of finden in the Konjunktiv I is finde. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hatte gefunden — the ich form of finden in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gefunden. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) gefunden — the past participle of finden is gefunden. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- A) to find — finden means “to find” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does finden mean in English?
finden means “to find”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is finden regular or irregular?
finden is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is findend and the past participle is gefunden.
How do I practise finden every day?
Say one sentence with finden 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 finde meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer.”, “Ich habe meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer gefunden.” and “Ich werde meine Schlüssel im Wohnzimmer finden.”. 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 finden, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of finden — every tense of finden in one place.
- Finden in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Finden examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Stehen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Bleiben conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Liegen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- 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 finden with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise finden with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise finden with the interactive tool.