Fliegen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German

Introduction

Fliegen means “to fly”, 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 fliegen, 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 fliegen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.

  1. “Ich fliege nach Berlin jeden Tag.” — “I fly to Berlin every day.”
  2. “Du fliegst nach Paris jeden Tag.” — “You fly to Paris every day.”
  3. “Ich bin in den Urlaub geflogen gestern.” — “I have flown on holiday yesterday.”
  4. “Er flog nach Berlin gestern.” — “He flew to Berlin yesterday.”
  5. “Wir werden nach Paris fliegen morgen.” — “We will fly to Paris tomorrow.”
  6. “Du bist in den Urlaub geflogen gestern.” — “You have flown on holiday yesterday.”
  7. “Ich flöge nach Berlin eines Tages.” — “I would fly to Berlin one day.”
  8. “Es ist wichtig, dass er fliege nach Paris.” — “It is important that he fly to Paris.”
  9. “Wir waren in den Urlaub geflogen vor der Party.” — “We had flown on holiday before the party.”
  10. “Er wird nach Berlin fliegen morgen.” — “He will fly to Berlin tomorrow.”
  11. “Sie fliegen nach Paris jeden Tag.” — “They fly to Paris every day.”
  12. “Flieg in den Urlaub!” — “Fly on holiday!”

A short dialogue

Lena and Jonas are talking about to Berlin. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how fliegen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of fliegen below is taken from the verified tables.

Lena: “Du fliegst nach Berlin jeden Tag.” — “You fly to Berlin every day.” Jonas: “Ich fliege nach Berlin jeden Tag.” — “I fly to Berlin every day.” Lena: “Du wirst nach Paris fliegen morgen.” — “You will fly to Paris tomorrow.” Jonas: “Ich werde nach Paris fliegen morgen.” — “I will fly to Paris tomorrow.” Lena: “Du bist in den Urlaub geflogen gestern.” — “You have flown on holiday yesterday.” Jonas: “Ich bin in den Urlaub geflogen gestern.” — “I have flown on holiday yesterday.” Lena: “Du flögest nach Berlin eines Tages.” — “You would fly to Berlin one day.” Jonas: “Ich flöge nach Berlin eines Tages.” — “I would fly to Berlin 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.

Fliegen in different tenses

The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of fliegen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.

The present: habits and facts

In the present, fliegen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is fliege: “Ich fliege nach Berlin jeden Tag.” — “I fly to Berlin every day.”

The preterite: the past in stories

In the preterite, fliegen describes a completed past action, mostly in writing and stories. The er form is flog: “Er flog nach Paris gestern.” — “He flew to Paris yesterday.”

The Perfekt: finished actions

In the Perfekt, fliegen reports one finished action, built with sein plus the participle geflogen. The ich form is bin geflogen: “Ich bin in den Urlaub geflogen gestern.” — “I have flown on holiday yesterday.”

The future: what will happen

In the future, fliegen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden fliegen: “Wir werden nach Berlin fliegen morgen.” — “We will fly to Berlin tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv II: what would happen

In Konjunktiv II, fliegen 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 flögest: “Du flögest nach Paris eines Tages.” — “You would fly to Paris one day.”

Konjunktiv I: reported speech

In Konjunktiv I, fliegen appears in reported speech, after triggers such as es ist wichtig, dass. The form is fliege, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich fliege in den Urlaub.” — “It is important that I fly on holiday.”

Common mistakes

Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich fliegen nach Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Ich fliege nach Berlin.”

The infinitive fliegen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form fliege.

Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Du fliege nach Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Du fliegst nach Berlin.”

fliege is the ich form. With du you need fliegst. Check the subject before you choose the form.

Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich fliege nach Berlin gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich bin nach Berlin geflogen gestern.”

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

Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du fliegst nach Paris.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du fliegest nach Paris.”

After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I: fliegest, not the indicative fliegst.

Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich geflogen nach Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Ich bin nach Berlin geflogen.”

The Perfekt of fliegen needs the auxiliary sein plus the participle geflogen: the full ich form is bin geflogen.

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) fliege
    • B) fliegst
    • C) fliegt
    • D) fliegen

  2. What is the du form of fliegen in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) fliegt
    • B) fliegen
    • C) fliegst
    • D) fliege

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

    • A) sind geflogen
    • B) ist geflogen
    • C) bin geflogen
    • D) bist geflogen

  4. What is the wir form of fliegen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?

    • A) flogt
    • B) flogen
    • C) flog
    • D) flogst

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

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

  6. What is the ich form of fliegen in the Konjunktiv II?

    • A) flöge
    • B) flögest
    • C) flögen
    • D) flöget

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

    • A) fliege
    • B) fliegest
    • C) fliegen
    • D) flieget

  8. What is the ich form of fliegen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?

    • A) warst geflogen
    • B) waren geflogen
    • C) wart geflogen
    • D) war geflogen

  9. What is the past participle (Partizip II) of fliegen?

    • A) gekocht
    • B) geflogen
    • C) getanzt
    • D) gesungen

  10. What does fliegen mean in English?

  • A) to sing
  • B) to cook
  • C) to fly
  • D) to dance

Answer key

  1. A) fliege — the ich form of fliegen in the Present (Präsens) is fliege. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) fliegst — the du form of fliegen in the Present (Präsens) is fliegst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. B) ist geflogen — the er/sie/es form of fliegen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is ist geflogen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. B) flogen — the wir form of fliegen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is flogen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) wirst fliegen — the du form of fliegen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst fliegen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. A) flöge — the ich form of fliegen in the Konjunktiv II is flöge. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. A) fliege — the er/sie/es form of fliegen in the Konjunktiv I is fliege. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. D) war geflogen — the ich form of fliegen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is war geflogen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) geflogen — the past participle of fliegen is geflogen. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. C) to fly — fliegen means “to fly” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does fliegen mean in English?

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

Is fliegen regular or irregular?

fliegen is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Partizip I is fliegend and Partizip II is geflogen.

How do I practise fliegen every day?

Say one sentence with fliegen 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 fliege nach Berlin jeden Tag.”, “Ich bin nach Berlin geflogen gestern.” and “Ich werde nach Berlin fliegen 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 fliegen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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