Lachen Conjugation in German
lachen means “to laugh” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 106 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about laughing at the joke, 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 lachen — 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 lache über den Witz jeden Tag.” — “I laugh at the joke every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: lachen
- English: to laugh
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Pattern: weak
- Separable: no
- Participle I: lachend
- Past participle (Partizip II): gelacht
- 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 lachen, 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 lachen in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about lachen
- 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.
- The perfect tenses use haben: the perfect is formed with haben in the present plus the past participle gelacht. 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.
- Partizip I is lachend and Partizip II is gelacht: 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 lachen. 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 | lache |
| du | lachst |
| er/sie/es | lacht |
| wir | lachen |
| ihr | lacht |
| sie/Sie | lachen |
The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Ich lache mit meinen Freunden jeden Tag.” — “I laugh with my friends every day.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | lachte |
| du | lachtest |
| er/sie/es | lachte |
| wir | lachten |
| ihr | lachtet |
| sie/Sie | lachten |
The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. For example: “Du lachtest mit meinen Freunden gestern.” — “You laughed with my friends yesterday.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe gelacht |
| du | hast gelacht |
| er/sie/es | hat gelacht |
| wir | haben gelacht |
| ihr | habt gelacht |
| sie/Sie | haben gelacht |
The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er hat mit meinen Freunden gelacht gestern.” — “He has laughed with my friends yesterday.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte gelacht |
| du | hattest gelacht |
| er/sie/es | hatte gelacht |
| wir | hatten gelacht |
| ihr | hattet gelacht |
| sie/Sie | hatten gelacht |
The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten mit meinen Freunden gelacht vor der Party.” — “We had laughed with my friends before the party.”
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde lachen |
| du | wirst lachen |
| er/sie/es | wird lachen |
| wir | werden lachen |
| ihr | werdet lachen |
| sie/Sie | werden lachen |
The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde mit meinen Freunden lachen morgen.” — “I will laugh with my friends tomorrow.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde gelacht haben |
| du | wirst gelacht haben |
| er/sie/es | wird gelacht haben |
| wir | werden gelacht haben |
| ihr | werdet gelacht haben |
| sie/Sie | werden gelacht haben |
The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst mit meinen Freunden gelacht haben bis morgen.” — “You will have laughed with my friends by tomorrow.”
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | lache |
| du | lachest |
| er/sie/es | lache |
| wir | lachen |
| ihr | lachet |
| sie/Sie | lachen |
Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er lache mit meinen Freunden.” — “It is important that he laugh with my friends.”
Konjunktiv II
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | lachte |
| du | lachtest |
| er/sie/es | lachte |
| wir | lachten |
| ihr | lachtet |
| sie/Sie | lachten |
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 lachte mit meinen Freunden eines Tages.” — “I would laugh with my friends one day.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hätte gelacht |
| du | hättest gelacht |
| er/sie/es | hätte gelacht |
| wir | hätten gelacht |
| ihr | hättet gelacht |
| sie/Sie | hätten gelacht |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte mit meinen Freunden gelacht gestern.” — “He would have laughed with my friends yesterday.”
Imperative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | lach |
| wir | lachen |
| ihr | lacht |
| sie | lachen |
The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Lach mit meinen Freunden!” — “Laugh with my friends!”
Present participle (Partizip I)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle | lachend |
The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle lachend describes something that is laughing. The present-tense sentence “Ich lache über den Witz jeden Tag.” — “I laugh at the joke every day.” shows the same verb in action.
Past participle (Partizip II)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Past participle | gelacht |
The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe über den Witz gelacht gestern.” — “I have laughed at the joke yesterday.”
Infinitive
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | lachen |
The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive lachen 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 über den Witz lachen morgen.” — “I will laugh at the joke tomorrow.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with lachen, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich lache über den Witz jeden Tag.” — “I laugh at the joke every day.”
- “Du lachtest mit meinen Freunden gestern.” — “You laughed with my friends yesterday.”
- “Er hat laut im Park gelacht gestern.” — “He has laughed loudly in the park yesterday.”
- “Wir hatten über den Witz gelacht vor der Party.” — “We had laughed at the joke before the party.”
- “Ich werde mit meinen Freunden lachen morgen.” — “I will laugh with my friends tomorrow.”
- “Du wirst laut im Park gelacht haben bis morgen.” — “You will have laughed loudly in the park by tomorrow.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass er lache über den Witz.” — “It is important that he laugh at the joke.”
- “Ich lachte mit meinen Freunden eines Tages.” — “I would laugh with my friends one day.”
- “Er hätte laut im Park gelacht gestern.” — “He would have laughed loudly in the park yesterday.”
- “Lach über den Witz!” — “Laugh at the joke!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich lachen über den Witz.”
✓ Right: “Ich lache über den Witz.”
The infinitive lachen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form lache.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Ich lachen über den Witz.”
✓ Right: “Ich lache über den Witz.”
lachen is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with lache.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich lache über den Witz gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe über den Witz gelacht gestern.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gelacht, not the present.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich lache über den Witz.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich lache über den Witz.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use lache here, not the indicative lache.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich bin gelacht über den Witz.”
✓ Right: “habe gelacht über den Witz.”
The Perfekt of lachen is formed with haben plus the past participle gelacht: the ich form is habe gelacht. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Using the preterite for a daily habit
✗ Wrong: “Ich lachte über den Witz jeden Tag.”
✓ Right: “Ich lache über den Witz jeden Tag.”
The preterite lachte describes a past action. For something you do every day, use the present lache.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on lachen. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of lachen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) lachst
- B) lacht
- C) lachen
- D) lache
What is the du form of lachen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) lachtest
- B) lachte
- C) lachten
- D) lachtet
What is the er/sie/es form of lachen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) habe gelacht
- B) hast gelacht
- C) haben gelacht
- D) hat gelacht
What is the wir form of lachen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatten gelacht
- B) hatte gelacht
- C) hattest gelacht
- D) hattet gelacht
What is the du form of lachen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wirst lachen
- B) werde lachen
- C) wird lachen
- D) werden lachen
What is the ich form of lachen in the Future perfect (Futur II)?
- A) wirst gelacht haben
- B) wird gelacht haben
- C) werden gelacht haben
- D) werde gelacht haben
What is the er/sie/es form of lachen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) lachest
- B) lachen
- C) lachet
- D) lache
What is the ich form of lachen in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) lachtest
- B) lachten
- C) lachtet
- D) lachte
What is the present participle (Partizip I) of lachen?
- A) schreiend
- B) lachend
- C) weinend
- D) lächelnd
What does lachen mean in English?
- A) to laugh
- B) to cry
- C) to smile
- D) to shout
Answer key
- D) lache — the ich form of lachen in the Present (Präsens) is lache. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) lachtest — the du form of lachen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is lachtest. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) hat gelacht — the er/sie/es form of lachen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gelacht. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) hatten gelacht — the wir form of lachen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatten gelacht. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) wirst lachen — the du form of lachen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst lachen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) werde gelacht haben — the ich form of lachen in the Future perfect (Futur II) is werde gelacht haben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) lache — the er/sie/es form of lachen in the Konjunktiv I is lache. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) lachte — the ich form of lachen in the Konjunktiv II is lachte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) lachend — the present participle (Partizip I) of lachen is lachend. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- A) to laugh — lachen means “to laugh” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does lachen mean in English?
lachen means “to laugh”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is lachen regular or irregular?
lachen is regular: it follows the ordinary weak pattern in every tense. Partizip I is lachend and Partizip II is gelacht.
What are the participles of lachen?
Partizip I is lachend — use it as an adjective. Partizip II is gelacht — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe gelacht.
Which auxiliary does lachen take in the Perfekt?
lachen takes haben in the Perfekt: the ich form is habe gelacht. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with haben plus the past participle gelacht.
How do I say “I laugh” in German?
Say “Ich lache über den Witz jeden Tag.” — “I laugh at the joke every day.” The ich form of the present is lache, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of lachen — every tense of lachen in one place.
- Lachen in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Lachen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Weinen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Lächeln conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Schreien conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- 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 lachen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise lachen with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise lachen with the interactive tool.