Fürchten: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German

Introduction

Fürchten means “to fear”, 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 fürchten, 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 fürchten, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.

  1. “Ich fürchte die Dunkelheit jeden Tag.” — “I fear the dark every day.”
  2. “Du fürchtest den Hund jeden Tag.” — “You fear the dog every day.”
  3. “Ich habe die Prüfung gefürchtet gestern.” — “I have feared the exam yesterday.”
  4. “Er fürchtete die Dunkelheit gestern.” — “He feared the dark yesterday.”
  5. “Wir werden den Hund fürchten morgen.” — “We will fear the dog tomorrow.”
  6. “Du hast die Prüfung gefürchtet gestern.” — “You have feared the exam yesterday.”
  7. “Ich fürchtete die Dunkelheit eines Tages.” — “I would fear the dark one day.”
  8. “Es ist wichtig, dass er fürchte den Hund.” — “It is important that he fear the dog.”
  9. “Wir hatten die Prüfung gefürchtet vor der Party.” — “We had feared the exam before the party.”
  10. “Er wird die Dunkelheit fürchten morgen.” — “He will fear the dark tomorrow.”
  11. “Sie fürchten den Hund jeden Tag.” — “They fear the dog every day.”
  12. “Fürchte die Prüfung!” — “Fear the exam!”

A short dialogue

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

Lena: “Du fürchtest die Dunkelheit jeden Tag.” — “You fear the dark every day.” Jonas: “Ich fürchte die Dunkelheit jeden Tag.” — “I fear the dark every day.” Lena: “Du wirst den Hund fürchten morgen.” — “You will fear the dog tomorrow.” Jonas: “Ich werde den Hund fürchten morgen.” — “I will fear the dog tomorrow.” Lena: “Du hast die Prüfung gefürchtet gestern.” — “You have feared the exam yesterday.” Jonas: “Ich habe die Prüfung gefürchtet gestern.” — “I have feared the exam yesterday.” Lena: “Du fürchtetest die Dunkelheit eines Tages.” — “You would fear the dark one day.” Jonas: “Ich fürchtete die Dunkelheit eines Tages.” — “I would fear the dark 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.

Fürchten in different tenses

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

The present: habits and facts

In the present, fürchten describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is fürchte: “Ich fürchte die Dunkelheit jeden Tag.” — “I fear the dark every day.”

The preterite: the past in stories

In the preterite, fürchten describes a completed past action, mostly in writing and stories. The er form is fürchtete: “Er fürchtete den Hund gestern.” — “He feared the dog yesterday.”

The Perfekt: finished actions

In the Perfekt, fürchten reports one finished action, built with haben plus the participle gefürchtet. The ich form is habe gefürchtet: “Ich habe die Prüfung gefürchtet gestern.” — “I have feared the exam yesterday.”

The future: what will happen

In the future, fürchten talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden fürchten: “Wir werden die Dunkelheit fürchten morgen.” — “We will fear the dark tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv II: what would happen

In Konjunktiv II, fürchten 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 fürchtetest: “Du fürchtetest den Hund eines Tages.” — “You would fear the dog one day.”

Konjunktiv I: reported speech

In Konjunktiv I, fürchten appears in reported speech, after triggers such as es ist wichtig, dass. The form is fürchte, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich fürchte die Prüfung.” — “It is important that I fear the exam.”

Common mistakes

Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich fürchten die Dunkelheit.”

✓ Right: “Ich fürchte die Dunkelheit.”

The infinitive fürchten never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form fürchte.

Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Du fürchte die Dunkelheit.”

✓ Right: “Du fürchtest die Dunkelheit.”

fürchte is the ich form. With du you need fürchtest. Check the subject before you choose the form.

Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich fürchte die Dunkelheit gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe die Dunkelheit gefürchtet gestern.”

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

Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du fürchtest den Hund.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du fürchtest den Hund.”

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

Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich gefürchtet die Dunkelheit.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe die Dunkelheit gefürchtet.”

The Perfekt of fürchten needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gefürchtet: the full ich form is habe gefürchtet.

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) fürchte
    • B) fürchtest
    • C) fürchtet
    • D) fürchten

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

    • A) fürchten
    • B) fürchtest
    • C) fürchte
    • D) fürchtet

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

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

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

    • A) fürchtetet
    • B) fürchteten
    • C) fürchtete
    • D) fürchtetest

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

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

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

    • A) fürchtetest
    • B) fürchteten
    • C) fürchtetet
    • D) fürchtete

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

    • A) fürchte
    • B) fürchtest
    • C) fürchten
    • D) fürchtet

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

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

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

    • A) gefürchtet
    • B) gesorgt
    • C) gefreut
    • D) geärgert

  10. What does fürchten mean in English?

  • A) to worry
  • B) to please
  • C) to annoy
  • D) to fear

Answer key

  1. A) fürchte — the ich form of fürchten in the Present (Präsens) is fürchte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. B) fürchtest — the du form of fürchten in the Present (Präsens) is fürchtest. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) hat gefürchtet — the er/sie/es form of fürchten in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gefürchtet. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. B) fürchteten — the wir form of fürchten in the Preterite (Präteritum) is fürchteten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) wirst fürchten — the du form of fürchten in the Future (Futur I) is wirst fürchten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. D) fürchtete — the ich form of fürchten in the Konjunktiv II is fürchtete. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. A) fürchte — the er/sie/es form of fürchten in the Konjunktiv I is fürchte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. C) hatte gefürchtet — the ich form of fürchten in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gefürchtet. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. A) gefürchtet — the past participle of fürchten is gefürchtet. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. D) to fear — fürchten means “to fear” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does fürchten mean in English?

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

Is fürchten regular or irregular?

fürchten is regular in every tense. Partizip I is fürchtend and Partizip II is gefürchtet.

How do I practise fürchten every day?

Say one sentence with fürchten 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 fürchte die Dunkelheit jeden Tag.”, “Ich habe die Dunkelheit gefürchtet gestern.” and “Ich werde die Dunkelheit fürchten 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 fürchten, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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