Freuen Conjugation in German

freuen means “to please” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 295 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about pleasing my mother with the present, 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 freuen — 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 freue meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk jeden Tag.” — “I please my mother with the present every day.”

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: freuen
  • English: to please
  • Verb type: Regular
  • Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
  • Pattern: weak
  • Separable: no
  • Participle I: freuend
  • Past participle (Partizip II): gefreut
  • 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 freuen, 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 freuen in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.

Three things to remember about freuen

  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 gefreut. 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 freuend and Partizip II is gefreut: 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 freuen. 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 freue
du freust
er/sie/es freut
wir freuen
ihr freut
sie/Sie freuen

The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Ich freue die Kinder mit dem Spiel jeden Tag.” — “I please the children with the game every day.”

Preterite (Präteritum)

Person Form
ich freute
du freutest
er/sie/es freute
wir freuten
ihr freutet
sie/Sie freuten

The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. For example: “Du freutest die Kinder mit dem Spiel gestern.” — “You pleased the children with the game yesterday.”

Perfect (Perfekt)

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

The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er hat die Kinder mit dem Spiel gefreut gestern.” — “He has pleased the children with the game yesterday.”

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

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

The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten die Kinder mit dem Spiel gefreut vor der Party.” — “We had pleased the children with the game before the party.”

Future (Futur I)

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

The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde die Kinder mit dem Spiel freuen morgen.” — “I will please the children with the game tomorrow.”

Future perfect (Futur II)

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

The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst die Kinder mit dem Spiel gefreut haben bis morgen.” — “You will have pleased the children with the game by tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv I

Person Form
ich freue
du freuest
er/sie/es freue
wir freuen
ihr freuet
sie/Sie freuen

Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er freue die Kinder mit dem Spiel.” — “It is important that he please the children with the game.”

Konjunktiv II

Person Form
ich freute
du freutest
er/sie/es freute
wir freuten
ihr freutet
sie/Sie freuten

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 freute die Kinder mit dem Spiel eines Tages.” — “I would please the children with the game one day.”

Conditional perfect

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

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte die Kinder mit dem Spiel gefreut gestern.” — “He would have pleased the children with the game yesterday.”

Imperative

Person Form
du freu
wir freuen
ihr freut
sie freuen

The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Freu die Kinder mit dem Spiel!” — “Please the children with the game!”

Present participle (Partizip I)

Form German
Present participle freuend

The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle freuend describes something that is pleasing. The present-tense sentence “Ich freue meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk jeden Tag.” — “I please my mother with the present every day.” shows the same verb in action.

Past participle (Partizip II)

Form German
Past participle gefreut

The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk gefreut gestern.” — “I have pleased my mother with the present yesterday.”

Infinitive

Form German
Infinitive freuen

The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive freuen 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 meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk freuen morgen.” — “I will please my mother with the present tomorrow.”

Example sentences

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

  1. “Ich freue meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk jeden Tag.” — “I please my mother with the present every day.”
  2. “Du freutest die Kinder mit dem Spiel gestern.” — “You pleased the children with the game yesterday.”
  3. “Er hat meinen Freund mit der Nachricht gefreut gestern.” — “He has pleased my friend with the news yesterday.”
  4. “Wir hatten meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk gefreut vor der Party.” — “We had pleased my mother with the present before the party.”
  5. “Ich werde die Kinder mit dem Spiel freuen morgen.” — “I will please the children with the game tomorrow.”
  6. “Du wirst meinen Freund mit der Nachricht gefreut haben bis morgen.” — “You will have pleased my friend with the news by tomorrow.”
  7. “Es ist wichtig, dass er freue meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk.” — “It is important that he please my mother with the present.”
  8. “Ich freute die Kinder mit dem Spiel eines Tages.” — “I would please the children with the game one day.”
  9. “Er hätte meinen Freund mit der Nachricht gefreut gestern.” — “He would have pleased my friend with the news yesterday.”
  10. “Freu meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk!” — “Please my mother with the present!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich freuen meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk.”

✓ Right: “Ich freue meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk.”

The infinitive freuen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form freue.

2. Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Ich freuen meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk.”

✓ Right: “Ich freue meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk.”

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

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich freue meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk gefreut gestern.”

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

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich freue meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich freue meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk.”

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

5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich bin gefreut meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk.”

✓ Right: “habe gefreut meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk.”

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

6. Using the preterite for a daily habit

✗ Wrong: “Ich freute meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk jeden Tag.”

✓ Right: “Ich freue meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk jeden Tag.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) freuen
    • B) freue
    • C) freust
    • D) freut

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

    • A) freuten
    • B) freutet
    • C) freutest
    • D) freute

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    • A) freuet
    • B) freue
    • C) freuest
    • D) freuen

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

    • A) freutet
    • B) freute
    • C) freutest
    • D) freuten

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

    • A) ärgernd
    • B) wartend
    • C) ankommend
    • D) freuend

  10. What does freuen mean in English?

  • A) to annoy
  • B) to wait
  • C) to arrive
  • D) to please

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

What does freuen mean in English?

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

Is freuen regular or irregular?

freuen is regular: it follows the ordinary weak pattern in every tense. Partizip I is freuend and Partizip II is gefreut.

What are the participles of freuen?

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

Which auxiliary does freuen take in the Perfekt?

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

How do I say “I please” in German?

Say “Ich freue meine Mutter mit dem Geschenk jeden Tag.” — “I please my mother with the present every day.” The ich form of the present is freue, and it is the form you will use most often.

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