Lieben: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Lieben means “to love”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in German — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for lieben, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with lieben, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich liebe Schokolade.” — “I love chocolate.”
- “Du liebst meine Freunde aus Berlin.” — “You love my friends from Berlin.”
- “Ich habe Bücher am Abend geliebt.” — “I have loved books in the evening.”
- “Er liebte Schokolade.” — “He loved chocolate.”
- “Wir werden meine Freunde aus Berlin lieben.” — “We will love my friends from Berlin.”
- “Du hast Bücher am Abend geliebt.” — “You have loved books in the evening.”
- “Ich liebte Schokolade.” — “I would love chocolate.”
- “Er liebe meine Freunde aus Berlin.” — “He loves my friends from Berlin.”
- “Wir hatten Bücher am Abend geliebt.” — “We had loved books in the evening.”
- “Er wird Schokolade lieben.” — “He will love chocolate.”
- “Sie lieben meine Freunde aus Berlin.” — “They love my friends from Berlin.”
- “Lieb Bücher am Abend!” — “Love books in the evening!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about chocolate. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how lieben changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of lieben below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Liebst du Schokolade?” — “You love chocolate?” Jonas: “Ich liebe Schokolade.” — “I love chocolate.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde meine Freunde aus Berlin lieben.” — “I will love my friends from Berlin.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe Bücher am Abend geliebt.” — “I have loved books in the evening.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich liebte Schokolade.” — “I would love chocolate.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the Perfekt for yesterday, and Konjunktiv II for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Lieben in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of lieben that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, lieben describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is liebe: “Ich liebe Schokolade.” — “I love chocolate.”
The preterite: the past as a finished event
In the preterite, lieben describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is liebte: “Er liebte meine Freunde aus Berlin.” — “He loved my friends from Berlin.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, lieben reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle geliebt. The ich form is habe geliebt: “Ich habe Bücher am Abend geliebt.” — “I have loved books in the evening.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, lieben talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden lieben: “Wir werden Schokolade lieben.” — “We will love chocolate.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, lieben talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is liebtest: “Du liebtest meine Freunde aus Berlin.” — “You would love my friends from Berlin.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In reported speech, lieben appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is liebe: “Er liebe Bücher am Abend.” — “He loves books in the evening.” Read it as a quotation — someone said this, and the sentence reports it.
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich lieben Schokolade.”
✓ Right: “Ich liebe Schokolade.”
The infinitive lieben never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form liebe.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du liebe Schokolade.”
✓ Right: “Du liebst Schokolade.”
liebe is the ich form. With du you need liebst. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich liebe Schokolade gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe Schokolade geliebt.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe geliebt, not the present.
Using the indicative in reported speech
✗ Wrong: “Ich liebe Schokolade.” (quoted as reported speech)
✓ Right: “Ich liebe Schokolade.” (quoted as reported speech)
In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: liebe, not the indicative liebe.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich geliebt Schokolade.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe Schokolade geliebt.”
The Perfekt of lieben needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle geliebt: the full ich form is habe geliebt.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on lieben. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of lieben in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) liebst
- B) liebt
- C) lieben
- D) liebe
What is the du form of lieben in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) lieben
- B) liebst
- C) liebe
- D) liebt
What is the er/sie/es form of lieben in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) habe geliebt
- B) hast geliebt
- C) haben geliebt
- D) hat geliebt
What is the wir form of lieben in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) liebtet
- B) liebten
- C) liebte
- D) liebtest
What is the du form of lieben in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wirst lieben
- B) werde lieben
- C) wird lieben
- D) werden lieben
What is the ich form of lieben in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) liebtest
- B) liebten
- C) liebtet
- D) liebte
What is the er/sie/es form of lieben in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) liebest
- B) lieben
- C) liebet
- D) liebe
What is the ich form of lieben in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatten geliebt
- B) hattet geliebt
- C) hatte geliebt
- D) hattest geliebt
What is the past participle of lieben?
- A) geliebt
- B) gehasst
- C) gebraucht
- D) gesucht
What does lieben mean in English?
- A) to hate
- B) to need
- C) to search
- D) to love
Answer key
- D) liebe — the ich form of lieben in the Present (Präsens) is liebe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) liebst — the du form of lieben in the Present (Präsens) is liebst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) hat geliebt — the er/sie/es form of lieben in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat geliebt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) liebten — the wir form of lieben in the Preterite (Präteritum) is liebten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) wirst lieben — the du form of lieben in the Future (Futur I) is wirst lieben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) liebte — the ich form of lieben in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is liebte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) liebe — the er/sie/es form of lieben in the Konjunktiv I is liebe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hatte geliebt — the ich form of lieben in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte geliebt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) geliebt — the past participle of lieben is geliebt. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to love — lieben means “to love” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does lieben mean in English?
lieben means “to love”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is lieben regular or irregular?
lieben is regular in every tense. The present participle is liebend and the past participle is geliebt.
How do I practise lieben every day?
Say one sentence with lieben in the present, one in the Perfekt and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Ich liebe Schokolade.”, “Ich habe Schokolade geliebt.” and “Ich werde Schokolade lieben.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for lieben, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of lieben — every tense of lieben in one place.
- Lieben in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Lieben examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Hassen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Brauchen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Suchen 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 Quiz — practise lieben with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise lieben with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise lieben with the interactive tool.