Gehen Conjugation in German
gehen means “to go” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 12 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You will meet it in everyday sentences such as “Ich gehe morgen nach Berlin.” — “I go to Berlin tomorrow.” — 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 gehen — every tense, every person, the present participle and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: gehen
- English: to go
- Verb type: Irregular
- Irregular in: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative
- Present participle (Partizip I): gehend
- Past participle (Partizip II): gegangen
- Auxiliary: sein (all perfect tenses are formed with sein + the past participle)
- Pattern: strong in the verified tables
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. 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 gehen in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about gehen
- It is irregular in 4 tense(s): present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Learn those forms as a set rather than guessing them from the infinitive, because the regular pattern will not produce them.
- The perfect tenses use sein: the Perfekt is formed with sein in the present plus the past participle gegangen. The tables on this page give the participle in the form exactly as it appears in the verified dump; the participle itself does not change for person, only the auxiliary does.
- The participles are gehend and gegangen: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the present participle appears as an adjective and the past participle 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 gehen. 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 | gehe |
| du | gehst |
| er/sie/es | geht |
| wir | gehen |
| ihr | geht |
| sie/Sie | gehen |
The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With gehen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ich gehe heute Morgen zum Markt.” — “I go to the market this morning.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | ging |
| du | gingst |
| er/sie/es | ging |
| wir | gingen |
| ihr | gingt |
| sie/Sie | gingen |
The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. With gehen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Du gingst heute Morgen zum Markt.” — “You went to the market this morning.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | bin gegangen |
| du | bist gegangen |
| er/sie/es | ist gegangen |
| wir | sind gegangen |
| ihr | seid gegangen |
| sie/Sie | sind gegangen |
The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er ist heute Morgen zum Markt gegangen.” — “He has gone to the market this morning.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | war gegangen |
| du | warst gegangen |
| er/sie/es | war gegangen |
| wir | waren gegangen |
| ihr | wart gegangen |
| sie/Sie | waren gegangen |
The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Ich war heute Morgen zum Markt gegangen.” — “I had gone to the market this morning.”
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde gehen |
| du | wirst gehen |
| er/sie/es | wird gehen |
| wir | werden gehen |
| ihr | werdet gehen |
| sie/Sie | werden gehen |
The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for intentions. For example: “Ich werde heute Morgen zum Markt gehen.” — “I will go to the market this morning.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde gegangen sein |
| du | wirst gegangen sein |
| er/sie/es | wird gegangen sein |
| wir | werden gegangen sein |
| ihr | werdet gegangen sein |
| sie/Sie | werden gegangen sein |
The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst heute Morgen zum Markt gegangen sein.” — “You will have gone to the market this morning.”
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | gehe |
| du | gehest |
| er/sie/es | gehe |
| wir | gehen |
| ihr | gehet |
| sie/Sie | gehen |
Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech — reporting what someone else said — and in formal written German. For example: “Er gehe heute Morgen zum Markt.” — “He goes to the market this morning.”
Konjunktiv II (conditional)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | ginge |
| du | gingest |
| er/sie/es | ginge |
| wir | gingen |
| ihr | ginget |
| sie/Sie | gingen |
Konjunktiv II is used for hypothetical situations, wishes and polite requests. It doubles as the German conditional: there is no separate conditional tense, and the periphrastic alternative with würde + infinitive is not an engine tense. For example: “Ich ginge heute Morgen zum Markt.” — “I would go to the market this morning.”
Conditional perfect (Konjunktiv II + participle)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | wäre gegangen |
| du | wärst gegangen |
| er/sie/es | wäre gegangen |
| wir | wären gegangen |
| ihr | wärt gegangen |
| sie/Sie | wären gegangen |
The conditional perfect (Konjunktiv II + past participle) is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er wäre heute Morgen zum Markt gegangen.” — “He would have gone to the market this morning.”
Imperative (Imperativ)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | geh |
| wir | gehen |
| ihr | geht |
| sie/Sie | gehen |
The imperative (Imperativ) is used for direct commands, requests and instructions. With gehen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Geh heute Morgen zum Markt!” — “Go to the market this morning!”
Present participle (Partizip I)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle (Partizip I) | gehend |
The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective or adverb, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle gehend is used to describe something that is happening at the same time as the main action, much like an English -ing adjective.
Past participle (Partizip II)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Past participle (Partizip II) | gegangen |
The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich bin morgen nach Berlin gegangen.” — “I have gone to Berlin tomorrow.”
Infinitive (Infinitiv)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | gehen |
The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and other verbs that take an infinitive. The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb: it is the form you look up, and the form that follows modal verbs and other verbs that take an infinitive.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with gehen, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich gehe morgen nach Berlin.” — “I go to Berlin tomorrow.”
- “Du gingst heute Morgen zum Markt.” — “You went to the market this morning.”
- “Er ist jeden Tag zur Schule gegangen.” — “He has gone to school every day.”
- “Ich werde morgen nach Berlin gehen.” — “I will go to Berlin tomorrow.”
- “Du gingest heute Morgen zum Markt.” — “You would go to the market this morning.”
- “Ich war jeden Tag zur Schule gegangen.” — “I had gone to school every day.”
- “Du wirst heute Morgen zum Markt gegangen sein.” — “You will have gone to the market this morning.”
- “Er gehe jeden Tag zur Schule.” — “He goes to school every day.”
- “Ich wäre morgen nach Berlin gegangen.” — “I would have gone to Berlin tomorrow.”
- “Geh morgen nach Berlin!” — “Go to Berlin tomorrow!”
Common mistakes
1. 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 present form gehe.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Ich gehen morgen nach Berlin.”
✓ Right: “Ich gehe morgen nach Berlin.”
gehen is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with gehe.
3. 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.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich habe morgen nach Berlin gegangen.”
✓ Right: “Ich bin morgen nach Berlin gegangen.”
The Perfekt of gehen is formed with sein plus the past participle gegangen: the ich form is bin gegangen. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
5. Using the preterite where spoken German prefers the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich ging morgen nach Berlin gestern.” (in everyday speech)
✓ Right: “Ich bin morgen nach Berlin gegangen.”
In everyday spoken German the Perfekt bin gegangen is the usual past tense. The preterite ging is correct in writing and in stories, but it sounds formal in conversation.
6. Using the du form when talking to a group
✗ Wrong: “Geh morgen nach Berlin!” (said to several people)
✓ Right: “Geht morgen nach Berlin!”
The du imperative geh is for one person you know well. For a group, use the ihr form geht.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on gehen. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of gehen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) gehst
- B) geht
- C) gehen
- D) gehe
What is the er/sie/es form of gehen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) gingst
- B) gingen
- C) gingt
- D) ging
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
What is the du form of gehen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wirst gehen
- B) werde gehen
- C) wird gehen
- D) werden gehen
What is the ich form of gehen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) gingen
- B) ginget
- C) ginge
- D) gingest
What is the wir form of gehen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) war gegangen
- B) warst gegangen
- C) wart gegangen
- D) waren gegangen
What is the er/sie/es form of gehen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) gehest
- B) gehen
- C) gehet
- D) gehe
What is the du form of gehen in the Imperative (Imperativ)?
- A) geh
- B) gehen
- C) geht
- D) gehst
What is the past participle of gehen?
- A) gegangen
- B) gekommen
- C) gesagt
- D) gemacht
What does gehen mean in English?
- A) to come
- B) to say
- C) to make, to do
- D) to go
Answer key
- D) gehe — the ich form of gehen in the Present (Präsens) is gehe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) ging — the er/sie/es form of gehen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is ging. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- 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.
- 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.
- C) ginge — the ich form of gehen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is ginge. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) waren gegangen — the wir form of gehen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is waren gegangen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- 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.
- A) geh — the du form of gehen in the Imperative (Imperativ) is geh. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) gegangen — the past participle of gehen is gegangen; it is used with sein in the perfect tenses. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- 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, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is gehend and the past participle is gegangen.
What are the participles of gehen?
The present participle (Partizip I) is gehend — use it as an adjective for an ongoing action. The past participle (Partizip II) is gegangen — use it with sein for the perfect tenses, as in bin gegangen.
Which auxiliary does gehen take in the Perfekt?
gehen takes sein in the Perfekt: the ich form is bin gegangen. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with sein plus the past participle gegangen.
Does German have a separate conditional tense?
No. Konjunktiv II doubles as the conditional: the ich form ginge is the form you use for “would” meanings, and the periphrastic alternative with würde + infinitive is not a separate engine tense. The conditional perfect wäre gegangen covers “would have” meanings.
How do I say “I go to Berlin tomorrow” in German?
Say “Ich gehe morgen nach Berlin.” — “I go to Berlin tomorrow.” The ich form of the present is gehe, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of gehen — every tense of gehen in one place.
- Gehen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Gehen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Kommen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Sagen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Machen 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 Conjugator — practise gehen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise gehen with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise gehen with the interactive tool.