Gehen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German

Introduction

Gehen means “to go”, 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 gehen, 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 gehen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.

  1. “Ich gehe morgen nach Berlin.” — “I go to Berlin tomorrow.”
  2. “Du gehst heute Morgen zum Markt.” — “You go to the market this morning.”
  3. “Ich bin jeden Tag zur Schule gegangen.” — “I have gone to school every day.”
  4. “Er ging morgen nach Berlin.” — “He went to Berlin tomorrow.”
  5. “Wir werden heute Morgen zum Markt gehen.” — “We will go to the market this morning.”
  6. “Du bist jeden Tag zur Schule gegangen.” — “You have gone to school every day.”
  7. “Ich ginge morgen nach Berlin.” — “I would go to Berlin tomorrow.”
  8. “Er gehe heute Morgen zum Markt.” — “He goes to the market this morning.”
  9. “Wir waren jeden Tag zur Schule gegangen.” — “We had gone to school every day.”
  10. “Er wird morgen nach Berlin gehen.” — “He will go to Berlin tomorrow.”
  11. “Sie gehen heute Morgen zum Markt.” — “They go to the market this morning.”
  12. “Geh jeden Tag zur Schule!” — “Go to school every day!”

A short dialogue

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

Lena: “Gehst du morgen nach Berlin?” — “You go to Berlin tomorrow?” Jonas: “Ich gehe morgen nach Berlin.” — “I go to Berlin tomorrow.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde heute Morgen zum Markt gehen.” — “I will go to the market this morning.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich bin jeden Tag zur Schule gegangen.” — “I have gone to school every day.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich ginge morgen nach Berlin.” — “I would go to Berlin tomorrow.”

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.

Gehen in different tenses

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

The present: habits and facts

In the present, gehen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is gehe: “Ich gehe morgen nach Berlin.” — “I go to Berlin tomorrow.”

The preterite: the past as a finished event

In the preterite, gehen describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is ging: “Er ging heute Morgen zum Markt.” — “He went to the market this morning.”

The Perfekt: finished actions

In the Perfekt, gehen reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with sein plus the participle gegangen. The ich form is bin gegangen: “Ich bin jeden Tag zur Schule gegangen.” — “I have gone to school every day.”

The future: what will happen

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

Konjunktiv II: what would happen

In Konjunktiv II, gehen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is gingest: “Du gingest heute Morgen zum Markt.” — “You would go to the market this morning.”

Konjunktiv I: reported speech

In reported speech, gehen appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is gehe: “Er gehe jeden Tag zur Schule.” — “He goes to school every day.” 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 gehen morgen nach Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Ich gehe morgen nach Berlin.”

The infinitive gehen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form gehe.

Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Du gehe morgen nach Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Du gehst morgen nach Berlin.”

gehe is the ich form. With du you need gehst. Check the subject before you choose the form.

Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich gehe morgen nach Berlin gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich bin morgen nach Berlin gegangen.”

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

Using the indicative in reported speech

✗ Wrong: “Ich gehe morgen nach Berlin.” (quoted as reported speech)

✓ Right: “Ich gehe morgen nach Berlin.” (quoted as reported speech)

In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: gehe, not the indicative gehe.

Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich gegangen morgen nach Berlin.”

✓ Right: “Ich bin morgen nach Berlin gegangen.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) gehst
    • B) geht
    • C) gehen
    • D) gehe

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

    • A) gehen
    • B) gehst
    • C) gehe
    • D) geht

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

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

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

    • A) gingen
    • B) ging
    • C) gingst
    • D) gingt

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

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

  6. What is the ich form of gehen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?

    • A) gingen
    • B) ginget
    • C) ginge
    • D) gingest

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

    • A) gehest
    • B) gehen
    • C) gehet
    • D) gehe

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

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

  9. What is the past participle of gehen?

    • A) gegangen
    • B) gekommen
    • C) gesagt
    • D) gemacht

  10. What does gehen mean in English?

  • A) to come
  • B) to say
  • C) to make, to do
  • D) to go

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

What does gehen mean in English?

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

Is gehen regular or irregular?

gehen is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is gehend and the past participle is gegangen.

How do I practise gehen every day?

Say one sentence with gehen 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 gehe morgen nach Berlin.”, “Ich bin morgen nach Berlin gegangen.” and “Ich werde morgen nach Berlin gehen.”. 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 gehen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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