Glauben Conjugation in German

glauben means “to believe” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 37 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about believing the story, 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 glauben — 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 glaube an die Geschichte jeden Tag.” — “I believe the story every day.”

Quick facts

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

Three things to remember about glauben

  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 geglaubt. 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 glaubend and Partizip II is geglaubt: 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 glauben. 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 glaube
du glaubst
er/sie/es glaubt
wir glauben
ihr glaubt
sie/Sie glauben

The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Ich glaube an meinen Freund jeden Tag.” — “I believe in my friend every day.”

Preterite (Präteritum)

Person Form
ich glaubte
du glaubtest
er/sie/es glaubte
wir glaubten
ihr glaubtet
sie/Sie glaubten

The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. For example: “Du glaubtest an meinen Freund gestern.” — “You believed in my friend yesterday.”

Perfect (Perfekt)

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

The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er hat an meinen Freund geglaubt gestern.” — “He has believed in my friend yesterday.”

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

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

The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten an meinen Freund geglaubt vor der Party.” — “We had believed in my friend before the party.”

Future (Futur I)

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

The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde an meinen Freund glauben morgen.” — “I will believe in my friend tomorrow.”

Future perfect (Futur II)

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

The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst an meinen Freund geglaubt haben bis morgen.” — “You will have believed in my friend by tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv I

Person Form
ich glaube
du glaubest
er/sie/es glaube
wir glauben
ihr glaubet
sie/Sie glauben

Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er glaube an meinen Freund.” — “It is important that he believe in my friend.”

Konjunktiv II

Person Form
ich glaubte
du glaubtest
er/sie/es glaubte
wir glaubten
ihr glaubtet
sie/Sie glaubten

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 glaubte an meinen Freund eines Tages.” — “I would believe in my friend one day.”

Conditional perfect

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

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte an meinen Freund geglaubt gestern.” — “He would have believed in my friend yesterday.”

Imperative

Person Form
du glaub
wir glauben
ihr glaubt
sie glauben

The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Glaub an meinen Freund!” — “Believe in my friend!”

Present participle (Partizip I)

Form German
Present participle glaubend

The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle glaubend describes something that is believing. The present-tense sentence “Ich glaube an die Geschichte jeden Tag.” — “I believe the story every day.” shows the same verb in action.

Past participle (Partizip II)

Form German
Past participle geglaubt

The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe an die Geschichte geglaubt gestern.” — “I have believed the story yesterday.”

Infinitive

Form German
Infinitive glauben

The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive glauben 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 an die Geschichte glauben morgen.” — “I will believe the story tomorrow.”

Example sentences

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

  1. “Ich glaube an die Geschichte jeden Tag.” — “I believe the story every day.”
  2. “Du glaubtest an meinen Freund gestern.” — “You believed in my friend yesterday.”
  3. “Er hat an das Glück geglaubt gestern.” — “He has believed in good luck yesterday.”
  4. “Wir hatten an die Geschichte geglaubt vor der Party.” — “We had believed the story before the party.”
  5. “Ich werde an meinen Freund glauben morgen.” — “I will believe in my friend tomorrow.”
  6. “Du wirst an das Glück geglaubt haben bis morgen.” — “You will have believed in good luck by tomorrow.”
  7. “Es ist wichtig, dass er glaube an die Geschichte.” — “It is important that he believe the story.”
  8. “Ich glaubte an meinen Freund eines Tages.” — “I would believe in my friend one day.”
  9. “Er hätte an das Glück geglaubt gestern.” — “He would have believed in good luck yesterday.”
  10. “Glaub an die Geschichte!” — “Believe the story!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich glauben an die Geschichte.”

✓ Right: “Ich glaube an die Geschichte.”

The infinitive glauben never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form glaube.

2. Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Ich glauben an die Geschichte.”

✓ Right: “Ich glaube an die Geschichte.”

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

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich glaube an die Geschichte gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe an die Geschichte geglaubt gestern.”

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

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich glaube an die Geschichte.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich glaube an die Geschichte.”

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

5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich bin geglaubt an die Geschichte.”

✓ Right: “habe geglaubt an die Geschichte.”

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

6. Using the preterite for a daily habit

✗ Wrong: “Ich glaubte an die Geschichte jeden Tag.”

✓ Right: “Ich glaube an die Geschichte jeden Tag.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) glaube
    • B) glaubst
    • C) glaubt
    • D) glauben

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

    • A) glaubtet
    • B) glaubtest
    • C) glaubte
    • D) glaubten

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    • A) glaube
    • B) glaubest
    • C) glauben
    • D) glaubet

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

    • A) glaubte
    • B) glaubtest
    • C) glaubten
    • D) glaubtet

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

    • A) vergessend
    • B) erinnernd
    • C) glaubend
    • D) meinend

  10. What does glauben mean in English?

  • A) to remember
  • B) to believe
  • C) to mean
  • D) to forget

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

What does glauben mean in English?

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

Is glauben regular or irregular?

glauben is regular: it follows the ordinary weak pattern in every tense. Partizip I is glaubend and Partizip II is geglaubt.

What are the participles of glauben?

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

Which auxiliary does glauben take in the Perfekt?

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

How do I say “I believe” in German?

Say “Ich glaube an die Geschichte jeden Tag.” — “I believe the story every day.” The ich form of the present is glaube, and it is the form you will use most often.

Related pages