Laufen Conjugation in German

laufen means “to run” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 27 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about running in the park, 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 laufen — 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 laufe im Park jeden Tag.” — “I run in the park every day.”

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: laufen
  • English: to run
  • Verb type: Irregular
  • Irregular in: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative
  • Pattern: strong
  • Separable: no
  • Participle I: laufend
  • Past participle (Partizip II): gelaufen
  • Auxiliary: sein (all perfect tenses are formed with sein + the past participle)

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for laufen, 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 laufen in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.

Three things to remember about laufen

  1. 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.
  2. The perfect tenses use sein: the perfect is formed with sein in the present plus the past participle gelaufen. 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 laufend and Partizip II is gelaufen: 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 laufen. 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 laufe
du läufst
er/sie/es läuft
wir laufen
ihr lauft
sie/Sie laufen

The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With laufen 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 laufe zum Bahnhof jeden Tag.” — “I run to the station every day.”

Preterite (Präteritum)

Person Form
ich lief
du liefst
er/sie/es lief
wir liefen
ihr lieft
sie/Sie liefen

The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. With laufen 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 liefst zum Bahnhof gestern.” — “You ran to the station yesterday.”

Perfect (Perfekt)

Person Form
ich bin gelaufen
du bist gelaufen
er/sie/es ist gelaufen
wir sind gelaufen
ihr seid gelaufen
sie/Sie sind gelaufen

The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er ist zum Bahnhof gelaufen gestern.” — “He has run to the station yesterday.”

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

Person Form
ich war gelaufen
du warst gelaufen
er/sie/es war gelaufen
wir waren gelaufen
ihr wart gelaufen
sie/Sie waren gelaufen

The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir waren zum Bahnhof gelaufen vor der Party.” — “We had run to the station before the party.”

Future (Futur I)

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

The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde zum Bahnhof laufen morgen.” — “I will run to the station tomorrow.”

Future perfect (Futur II)

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

The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst zum Bahnhof gelaufen sein bis morgen.” — “You will have run to the station by tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv I

Person Form
ich laufe
du laufest
er/sie/es laufe
wir laufen
ihr laufet
sie/Sie laufen

Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er laufe zum Bahnhof.” — “It is important that he run to the station.”

Konjunktiv II

Person Form
ich liefe
du liefest
er/sie/es liefe
wir liefen
ihr liefet
sie/Sie liefen

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 liefe zum Bahnhof eines Tages.” — “I would run to the station one day.”

Conditional perfect

Person Form
ich wäre gelaufen
du wärst gelaufen
er/sie/es wäre gelaufen
wir wären gelaufen
ihr wärt gelaufen
sie/Sie wären gelaufen

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er wäre zum Bahnhof gelaufen gestern.” — “He would have run to the station yesterday.”

Imperative

Person Form
du lauf
wir laufen
ihr lauft
sie laufen

The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. With laufen 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: “Lauf zum Bahnhof!” — “Run to the station!”

Present participle (Partizip I)

Form German
Present participle laufend

The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle laufend describes something that is running. The present-tense sentence “Ich laufe im Park jeden Tag.” — “I run in the park every day.” shows the same verb in action.

Past participle (Partizip II)

Form German
Past participle gelaufen

The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich bin im Park gelaufen gestern.” — “I have run in the park yesterday.”

Infinitive

Form German
Infinitive laufen

The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive laufen 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 im Park laufen morgen.” — “I will run in the park tomorrow.”

Example sentences

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

  1. “Ich laufe im Park jeden Tag.” — “I run in the park every day.”
  2. “Du liefst zum Bahnhof gestern.” — “You ran to the station yesterday.”
  3. “Er ist jeden Morgen gelaufen gestern.” — “He has run every morning yesterday.”
  4. “Wir waren im Park gelaufen vor der Party.” — “We had run in the park before the party.”
  5. “Ich werde zum Bahnhof laufen morgen.” — “I will run to the station tomorrow.”
  6. “Du wirst jeden Morgen gelaufen sein bis morgen.” — “You will have run every morning by tomorrow.”
  7. “Es ist wichtig, dass er laufe im Park.” — “It is important that he run in the park.”
  8. “Ich liefe zum Bahnhof eines Tages.” — “I would run to the station one day.”
  9. “Er wäre jeden Morgen gelaufen gestern.” — “He would have run every morning yesterday.”
  10. “Lauf im Park!” — “Run in the park!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich laufen im Park.”

✓ Right: “Ich laufe im Park.”

The infinitive laufen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form laufe.

2. Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Ich laufen im Park.”

✓ Right: “Ich laufe im Park.”

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

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich laufe im Park gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich bin im Park gelaufen gestern.”

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

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich laufe im Park.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich laufe im Park.”

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

5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich habe gelaufen im Park.”

✓ Right: “bin gelaufen im Park.”

The Perfekt of laufen is formed with sein plus the past participle gelaufen: the ich form is bin gelaufen. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.

6. Using the preterite for a daily habit

✗ Wrong: “Ich lief im Park jeden Tag.”

✓ Right: “Ich laufe im Park jeden Tag.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) läufst
    • B) läuft
    • C) laufen
    • D) laufe

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

    • A) lieft
    • B) liefst
    • C) lief
    • D) liefen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    • A) wirst gelaufen sein
    • B) wird gelaufen sein
    • C) werden gelaufen sein
    • D) werde gelaufen sein

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

    • A) laufest
    • B) laufen
    • C) laufet
    • D) laufe

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

    • A) liefest
    • B) liefen
    • C) liefet
    • D) liefe

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

    • A) schwimmend
    • B) laufend
    • C) rennend
    • D) springend

  10. What does laufen mean in English?

  • A) to run
  • B) to run fast
  • C) to jump
  • D) to swim

Answer key

  1. D) laufe — the ich form of laufen in the Present (Präsens) is laufe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. B) liefst — the du form of laufen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is liefst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. B) ist gelaufen — the er/sie/es form of laufen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is ist gelaufen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) waren gelaufen — the wir form of laufen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is waren gelaufen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. A) wirst laufen — the du form of laufen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst laufen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. D) werde gelaufen sein — the ich form of laufen in the Future perfect (Futur II) is werde gelaufen sein. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) laufe — the er/sie/es form of laufen in the Konjunktiv I is laufe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. D) liefe — the ich form of laufen in the Konjunktiv II is liefe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) laufend — the present participle (Partizip I) of laufen is laufend. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. A) to run — laufen means “to run” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does laufen mean in English?

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

Is laufen regular or irregular?

laufen is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Partizip I is laufend and Partizip II is gelaufen.

What are the participles of laufen?

Partizip I is laufend — use it as an adjective. Partizip II is gelaufen — use it with sein for the perfect tenses, as in bin gelaufen.

Which auxiliary does laufen take in the Perfekt?

laufen takes sein in the Perfekt: the ich form is bin gelaufen. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with sein plus the past participle gelaufen.

How do I say “I run” in German?

Say “Ich laufe im Park jeden Tag.” — “I run in the park every day.” The ich form of the present is laufe, and it is the form you will use most often.

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