Lieben Conjugation in German
lieben means “to love” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 62 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You will meet it in everyday sentences such as “Ich liebe Schokolade.” — “I love chocolate.” — 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 lieben — every tense, every person, the present participle and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: lieben
- English: to love
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Present participle (Partizip I): liebend
- Past participle (Partizip II): geliebt
- 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 lieben, 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 lieben in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about lieben
- 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 geliebt. 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 liebend and geliebt: 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 lieben. 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 | liebe |
| du | liebst |
| er/sie/es | liebt |
| wir | lieben |
| ihr | liebt |
| sie/Sie | lieben |
The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Ich liebe meine Freunde aus Berlin.” — “I love my friends from Berlin.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | liebte |
| du | liebtest |
| er/sie/es | liebte |
| wir | liebten |
| ihr | liebtet |
| sie/Sie | liebten |
The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. For example: “Du liebtest meine Freunde aus Berlin.” — “You loved my friends from Berlin.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe geliebt |
| du | hast geliebt |
| er/sie/es | hat geliebt |
| wir | haben geliebt |
| ihr | habt geliebt |
| sie/Sie | haben geliebt |
The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er hat meine Freunde aus Berlin geliebt.” — “He has loved my friends from Berlin.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte geliebt |
| du | hattest geliebt |
| er/sie/es | hatte geliebt |
| wir | hatten geliebt |
| ihr | hattet geliebt |
| sie/Sie | hatten geliebt |
The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Ich hatte meine Freunde aus Berlin geliebt.” — “I had loved my friends from Berlin.”
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde lieben |
| du | wirst lieben |
| er/sie/es | wird lieben |
| wir | werden lieben |
| ihr | werdet lieben |
| sie/Sie | werden lieben |
The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for intentions. For example: “Ich werde meine Freunde aus Berlin lieben.” — “I will love my friends from Berlin.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde geliebt haben |
| du | wirst geliebt haben |
| er/sie/es | wird geliebt haben |
| wir | werden geliebt haben |
| ihr | werdet geliebt haben |
| sie/Sie | werden geliebt haben |
The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst meine Freunde aus Berlin geliebt haben.” — “You will have loved my friends from Berlin.”
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | liebe |
| du | liebest |
| er/sie/es | liebe |
| wir | lieben |
| ihr | liebet |
| sie/Sie | lieben |
Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech — reporting what someone else said — and in formal written German. For example: “Er liebe meine Freunde aus Berlin.” — “He loves my friends from Berlin.”
Konjunktiv II (conditional)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | liebte |
| du | liebtest |
| er/sie/es | liebte |
| wir | liebten |
| ihr | liebtet |
| sie/Sie | liebten |
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 liebte meine Freunde aus Berlin.” — “I would love my friends from Berlin.”
Conditional perfect (Konjunktiv II + participle)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hätte geliebt |
| du | hättest geliebt |
| er/sie/es | hätte geliebt |
| wir | hätten geliebt |
| ihr | hättet geliebt |
| sie/Sie | hätten geliebt |
The conditional perfect (Konjunktiv II + past participle) is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte meine Freunde aus Berlin geliebt.” — “He would have loved my friends from Berlin.”
Imperative (Imperativ)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | lieb |
| wir | lieben |
| ihr | liebt |
| sie/Sie | lieben |
The imperative (Imperativ) is used for direct commands, requests and instructions. For example: “Lieb meine Freunde aus Berlin!” — “Love my friends from Berlin!”
Present participle (Partizip I)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle (Partizip I) | liebend |
The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective or adverb, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle liebend 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) | geliebt |
The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe Schokolade geliebt.” — “I have loved chocolate.”
Infinitive (Infinitiv)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | lieben |
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 lieben, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich liebe Schokolade.” — “I love chocolate.”
- “Du liebtest meine Freunde aus Berlin.” — “You loved my friends from Berlin.”
- “Er hat Bücher am Abend geliebt.” — “He has loved books in the evening.”
- “Ich werde Schokolade lieben.” — “I will love chocolate.”
- “Du liebtest meine Freunde aus Berlin.” — “You would love my friends from Berlin.”
- “Ich hatte Bücher am Abend geliebt.” — “I had loved books in the evening.”
- “Du wirst meine Freunde aus Berlin geliebt haben.” — “You will have loved my friends from Berlin.”
- “Er liebe Bücher am Abend.” — “He loves books in the evening.”
- “Ich hätte Schokolade geliebt.” — “I would have loved chocolate.”
- “Lieb Schokolade!” — “Love chocolate!”
Common mistakes
1. 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 present form liebe.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Ich lieben Schokolade.”
✓ Right: “Ich liebe Schokolade.”
lieben is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with liebe.
3. 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.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich bin Schokolade geliebt.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe Schokolade geliebt.”
The Perfekt of lieben is formed with haben plus the past participle geliebt: the ich form is habe geliebt. 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 liebte Schokolade gestern.” (in everyday speech)
✓ Right: “Ich habe Schokolade geliebt.”
In everyday spoken German the Perfekt habe geliebt is the usual past tense. The preterite liebte is correct in writing and in stories, but it sounds formal in conversation.
6. Using the du form when talking to a group
✗ Wrong: “Lieb Schokolade!” (said to several people)
✓ Right: “Liebt Schokolade!”
The du imperative lieb is for one person you know well. For a group, use the ihr form liebt.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on lieben. Choose the right form, 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 er/sie/es form of lieben in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) liebtest
- B) liebten
- C) liebtet
- D) liebte
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 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 wir form of lieben in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatten geliebt
- B) hatte geliebt
- C) hattest geliebt
- D) hattet geliebt
What is the er/sie/es form of lieben in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) liebest
- B) lieben
- C) liebet
- D) liebe
What is the du form of lieben in the Imperative (Imperativ)?
- A) lieb
- B) lieben
- C) liebt
- D) liebst
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.
- D) liebte — the er/sie/es form of lieben in the Preterite (Präteritum) is liebte. 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.
- 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.
- A) hatten geliebt — the wir form of lieben in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatten geliebt. 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.
- A) lieb — the du form of lieben in the Imperative (Imperativ) is lieb. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) geliebt — the past participle of lieben is geliebt; it is used with haben in the perfect tenses. 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: it follows the ordinary weak pattern in every tense. The present participle is liebend and the past participle is geliebt.
What are the participles of lieben?
The present participle (Partizip I) is liebend — use it as an adjective for an ongoing action. The past participle (Partizip II) is geliebt — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe geliebt.
Which auxiliary does lieben take in the Perfekt?
lieben takes haben in the Perfekt: the ich form is habe geliebt. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with haben plus the past participle geliebt.
Does German have a separate conditional tense?
No. Konjunktiv II doubles as the conditional: the ich form liebte 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 geliebt covers “would have” meanings.
How do I say “I love chocolate” in German?
Say “Ich liebe Schokolade.” — “I love chocolate.” The ich form of the present is liebe, and it is the form you will use most often.
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 Conjugator — practise lieben with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise lieben with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise lieben with the interactive tool.