Kochen Conjugation in German

kochen means “to cook” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 75 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about cooking a soup, 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 kochen — 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 koche eine Suppe jeden Tag.” — “I cook a soup every day.”

Quick facts

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

Three things to remember about kochen

  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 gekocht. 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 kochend and Partizip II is gekocht: 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 kochen. 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 koche
du kochst
er/sie/es kocht
wir kochen
ihr kocht
sie/Sie kochen

The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Ich koche Reis mit Gemüse jeden Tag.” — “I cook rice with vegetables every day.”

Preterite (Präteritum)

Person Form
ich kochte
du kochtest
er/sie/es kochte
wir kochten
ihr kochtet
sie/Sie kochten

The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. For example: “Du kochtest Reis mit Gemüse gestern.” — “You cooked rice with vegetables yesterday.”

Perfect (Perfekt)

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

The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er hat Reis mit Gemüse gekocht gestern.” — “He has cooked rice with vegetables yesterday.”

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

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

The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten Reis mit Gemüse gekocht vor der Party.” — “We had cooked rice with vegetables before the party.”

Future (Futur I)

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

The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde Reis mit Gemüse kochen morgen.” — “I will cook rice with vegetables tomorrow.”

Future perfect (Futur II)

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

The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst Reis mit Gemüse gekocht haben bis morgen.” — “You will have cooked rice with vegetables by tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv I

Person Form
ich koche
du kochest
er/sie/es koche
wir kochen
ihr kochet
sie/Sie kochen

Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er koche Reis mit Gemüse.” — “It is important that he cook rice with vegetables.”

Konjunktiv II

Person Form
ich kochte
du kochtest
er/sie/es kochte
wir kochten
ihr kochtet
sie/Sie kochten

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 kochte Reis mit Gemüse eines Tages.” — “I would cook rice with vegetables one day.”

Conditional perfect

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

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte Reis mit Gemüse gekocht gestern.” — “He would have cooked rice with vegetables yesterday.”

Imperative

Person Form
du koch
wir kochen
ihr kocht
sie kochen

The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Koch Reis mit Gemüse!” — “Cook rice with vegetables!”

Present participle (Partizip I)

Form German
Present participle kochend

The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle kochend describes something that is cooking. The present-tense sentence “Ich koche eine Suppe jeden Tag.” — “I cook a soup every day.” shows the same verb in action.

Past participle (Partizip II)

Form German
Past participle gekocht

The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe eine Suppe gekocht gestern.” — “I have cooked a soup yesterday.”

Infinitive

Form German
Infinitive kochen

The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive kochen 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 eine Suppe kochen morgen.” — “I will cook a soup tomorrow.”

Example sentences

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

  1. “Ich koche eine Suppe jeden Tag.” — “I cook a soup every day.”
  2. “Du kochtest Reis mit Gemüse gestern.” — “You cooked rice with vegetables yesterday.”
  3. “Er hat Pasta für die Familie gekocht gestern.” — “He has cooked pasta for the family yesterday.”
  4. “Wir hatten eine Suppe gekocht vor der Party.” — “We had cooked a soup before the party.”
  5. “Ich werde Reis mit Gemüse kochen morgen.” — “I will cook rice with vegetables tomorrow.”
  6. “Du wirst Pasta für die Familie gekocht haben bis morgen.” — “You will have cooked pasta for the family by tomorrow.”
  7. “Es ist wichtig, dass er koche eine Suppe.” — “It is important that he cook a soup.”
  8. “Ich kochte Reis mit Gemüse eines Tages.” — “I would cook rice with vegetables one day.”
  9. “Er hätte Pasta für die Familie gekocht gestern.” — “He would have cooked pasta for the family yesterday.”
  10. “Koch eine Suppe!” — “Cook a soup!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich kochen eine Suppe.”

✓ Right: “Ich koche eine Suppe.”

The infinitive kochen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form koche.

2. Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Ich kochen eine Suppe.”

✓ Right: “Ich koche eine Suppe.”

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

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich koche eine Suppe gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe eine Suppe gekocht gestern.”

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

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich koche eine Suppe.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich koche eine Suppe.”

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

5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich bin gekocht eine Suppe.”

✓ Right: “habe gekocht eine Suppe.”

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

6. Using the preterite for a daily habit

✗ Wrong: “Ich kochte eine Suppe jeden Tag.”

✓ Right: “Ich koche eine Suppe jeden Tag.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) kocht
    • B) kochen
    • C) koche
    • D) kochst

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

    • A) kochte
    • B) kochten
    • C) kochtet
    • D) kochtest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    • A) kochen
    • B) kochet
    • C) koche
    • D) kochest

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

    • A) kochten
    • B) kochtet
    • C) kochte
    • D) kochtest

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

    • A) kochend
    • B) putzend
    • C) waschend
    • D) duschend

  10. What does kochen mean in English?

  • A) to shower
  • B) to cook
  • C) to clean
  • D) to wash

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

What does kochen mean in English?

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

Is kochen regular or irregular?

kochen is regular: it follows the ordinary weak pattern in every tense. Partizip I is kochend and Partizip II is gekocht.

What are the participles of kochen?

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

Which auxiliary does kochen take in the Perfekt?

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

How do I say “I cook” in German?

Say “Ich koche eine Suppe jeden Tag.” — “I cook a soup every day.” The ich form of the present is koche, and it is the form you will use most often.

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