Leben Conjugation in German
leben means “to live” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 20 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You will meet it in everyday sentences such as “Ich lebe in Berlin seit zehn Jahren.” — “I live in Berlin for ten years.” — 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 leben — every tense, every person, the present participle and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: leben
- English: to live
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Present participle (Partizip I): lebend
- Past participle (Partizip II): gelebt
- Auxiliary: haben (all perfect tenses are formed with haben + the past participle)
- Pattern: weak in the verified tables
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for leben, 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 leben in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about leben
- 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 Perfekt is formed with haben in the present plus the past participle gelebt. 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 lebend and gelebt: 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 leben. 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 | lebe |
| du | lebst |
| er/sie/es | lebt |
| wir | leben |
| ihr | lebt |
| sie/Sie | leben |
The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Ich lebe mit meiner Familie.” — “I live with my family.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | lebte |
| du | lebtest |
| er/sie/es | lebte |
| wir | lebten |
| ihr | lebtet |
| sie/Sie | lebten |
The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. For example: “Du lebtest mit meiner Familie.” — “You lived with my family.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe gelebt |
| du | hast gelebt |
| er/sie/es | hat gelebt |
| wir | haben gelebt |
| ihr | habt gelebt |
| sie/Sie | haben gelebt |
The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er hat mit meiner Familie gelebt.” — “He has lived with my family.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte gelebt |
| du | hattest gelebt |
| er/sie/es | hatte gelebt |
| wir | hatten gelebt |
| ihr | hattet gelebt |
| sie/Sie | hatten gelebt |
The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Ich hatte mit meiner Familie gelebt.” — “I had lived with my family.”
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde leben |
| du | wirst leben |
| er/sie/es | wird leben |
| wir | werden leben |
| ihr | werdet leben |
| sie/Sie | werden leben |
The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for intentions. For example: “Ich werde mit meiner Familie leben.” — “I will live with my family.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde gelebt haben |
| du | wirst gelebt haben |
| er/sie/es | wird gelebt haben |
| wir | werden gelebt haben |
| ihr | werdet gelebt haben |
| sie/Sie | werden gelebt haben |
The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst mit meiner Familie gelebt haben.” — “You will have lived with my family.”
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | lebe |
| du | lebest |
| er/sie/es | lebe |
| wir | leben |
| ihr | lebet |
| sie/Sie | leben |
Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech — reporting what someone else said — and in formal written German. For example: “Er lebe mit meiner Familie.” — “He lives with my family.”
Konjunktiv II (conditional)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | lebte |
| du | lebtest |
| er/sie/es | lebte |
| wir | lebten |
| ihr | lebtet |
| sie/Sie | lebten |
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 lebte mit meiner Familie.” — “I would live with my family.”
Conditional perfect (Konjunktiv II + participle)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hätte gelebt |
| du | hättest gelebt |
| er/sie/es | hätte gelebt |
| wir | hätten gelebt |
| ihr | hättet gelebt |
| sie/Sie | hätten gelebt |
The conditional perfect (Konjunktiv II + past participle) is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte mit meiner Familie gelebt.” — “He would have lived with my family.”
Imperative (Imperativ)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | leb |
| wir | leben |
| ihr | lebt |
| sie/Sie | leben |
The imperative (Imperativ) is used for direct commands, requests and instructions. For example: “Leb mit meiner Familie!” — “Live with my family!”
Present participle (Partizip I)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle (Partizip I) | lebend |
The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective or adverb, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle lebend 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) | gelebt |
The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe in Berlin seit zehn Jahren gelebt.” — “I have lived in Berlin for ten years.”
Infinitive (Infinitiv)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | leben |
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 leben, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich lebe in Berlin seit zehn Jahren.” — “I live in Berlin for ten years.”
- “Du lebtest mit meiner Familie.” — “You lived with my family.”
- “Er hat in der Nähe vom Meer gelebt.” — “He has lived near the sea.”
- “Ich werde in Berlin seit zehn Jahren leben.” — “I will live in Berlin for ten years.”
- “Du lebtest mit meiner Familie.” — “You would live with my family.”
- “Ich hatte in der Nähe vom Meer gelebt.” — “I had lived near the sea.”
- “Du wirst mit meiner Familie gelebt haben.” — “You will have lived with my family.”
- “Er lebe in der Nähe vom Meer.” — “He lives near the sea.”
- “Ich hätte in Berlin seit zehn Jahren gelebt.” — “I would have lived in Berlin for ten years.”
- “Leb in Berlin seit zehn Jahren!” — “Live in Berlin for ten years!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich leben in Berlin seit zehn Jahren.”
✓ Right: “Ich lebe in Berlin seit zehn Jahren.”
The infinitive leben never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form lebe.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Ich leben in Berlin seit zehn Jahren.”
✓ Right: “Ich lebe in Berlin seit zehn Jahren.”
leben is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with lebe.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich lebe in Berlin seit zehn Jahren gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe in Berlin seit zehn Jahren gelebt.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gelebt, not the present.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich bin in Berlin seit zehn Jahren gelebt.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe in Berlin seit zehn Jahren gelebt.”
The Perfekt of leben is formed with haben plus the past participle gelebt: the ich form is habe gelebt. 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 lebte in Berlin seit zehn Jahren gestern.” (in everyday speech)
✓ Right: “Ich habe in Berlin seit zehn Jahren gelebt.”
In everyday spoken German the Perfekt habe gelebt is the usual past tense. The preterite lebte is correct in writing and in stories, but it sounds formal in conversation.
6. Using the du form when talking to a group
✗ Wrong: “Leb in Berlin seit zehn Jahren!” (said to several people)
✓ Right: “Lebt in Berlin seit zehn Jahren!”
The du imperative leb is for one person you know well. For a group, use the ihr form lebt.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on leben. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of leben in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) lebe
- B) lebst
- C) lebt
- D) leben
What is the er/sie/es form of leben in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) lebte
- B) lebtest
- C) lebten
- D) lebtet
What is the er/sie/es form of leben in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) hat gelebt
- B) habe gelebt
- C) hast gelebt
- D) haben gelebt
What is the du form of leben in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werden leben
- B) wirst leben
- C) werde leben
- D) wird leben
What is the ich form of leben in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) lebte
- B) lebtest
- C) lebten
- D) lebtet
What is the wir form of leben in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hattet gelebt
- B) hatten gelebt
- C) hatte gelebt
- D) hattest gelebt
What is the er/sie/es form of leben in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) lebe
- B) lebest
- C) leben
- D) lebet
What is the du form of leben in the Imperative (Imperativ)?
- A) lebst
- B) leb
- C) leben
- D) lebt
What is the past participle of leben?
- A) gebracht
- B) gelebt
- C) gefahren
- D) gelassen
What does leben mean in English?
- A) to bring
- B) to live
- C) to drive
- D) to let, to leave
Answer key
- A) lebe — the ich form of leben in the Present (Präsens) is lebe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) lebte — the er/sie/es form of leben in the Preterite (Präteritum) is lebte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) hat gelebt — the er/sie/es form of leben in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gelebt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) wirst leben — the du form of leben in the Future (Futur I) is wirst leben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) lebte — the ich form of leben in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is lebte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) hatten gelebt — the wir form of leben in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatten gelebt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) lebe — the er/sie/es form of leben in the Konjunktiv I is lebe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) leb — the du form of leben in the Imperative (Imperativ) is leb. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) gelebt — the past participle of leben is gelebt; it is used with haben in the perfect tenses. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- B) to live — leben means “to live” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does leben mean in English?
leben means “to live”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is leben regular or irregular?
leben is regular: it follows the ordinary weak pattern in every tense. The present participle is lebend and the past participle is gelebt.
What are the participles of leben?
The present participle (Partizip I) is lebend — use it as an adjective for an ongoing action. The past participle (Partizip II) is gelebt — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe gelebt.
Which auxiliary does leben take in the Perfekt?
leben takes haben in the Perfekt: the ich form is habe gelebt. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with haben plus the past participle gelebt.
Does German have a separate conditional tense?
No. Konjunktiv II doubles as the conditional: the ich form lebte is the form you use for “would” meanings, and the periphrastic alternative with würde + infinitive is not a separate engine tense. The conditional perfect hätte gelebt covers “would have” meanings.
How do I say “I live in Berlin for ten years” in German?
Say “Ich lebe in Berlin seit zehn Jahren.” — “I live in Berlin for ten years.” The ich form of the present is lebe, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of leben — every tense of leben in one place.
- Leben in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Leben examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Fahren conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Lassen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Bringen 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 leben with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise leben with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise leben with the interactive tool.