Meinen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German

Introduction

Meinen means “to mean”, 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 meinen, 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 meinen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.

  1. “Ich meine es ernst jeden Tag.” — “I mean it seriously every day.”
  2. “Du meinst die Frage ernst jeden Tag.” — “You mean the question seriously every day.”
  3. “Ich habe den Vorschlag ernst gemeint gestern.” — “I have meant the suggestion seriously yesterday.”
  4. “Er meinte es ernst gestern.” — “He meant it seriously yesterday.”
  5. “Wir werden die Frage ernst meinen morgen.” — “We will mean the question seriously tomorrow.”
  6. “Du hast den Vorschlag ernst gemeint gestern.” — “You have meant the suggestion seriously yesterday.”
  7. “Ich meinte es ernst eines Tages.” — “I would mean it seriously one day.”
  8. “Es ist wichtig, dass er meine die Frage ernst.” — “It is important that he mean the question seriously.”
  9. “Wir hatten den Vorschlag ernst gemeint vor der Party.” — “We had meant the suggestion seriously before the party.”
  10. “Er wird es ernst meinen morgen.” — “He will mean it seriously tomorrow.”
  11. “Sie meinen die Frage ernst jeden Tag.” — “They mean the question seriously every day.”
  12. “Mein den Vorschlag ernst!” — “Mean the suggestion seriously!”

A short dialogue

Lena and Jonas are talking about it seriously. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how meinen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of meinen below is taken from the verified tables.

Lena: “Du meinst es ernst jeden Tag.” — “You mean it seriously every day.” Jonas: “Ich meine es ernst jeden Tag.” — “I mean it seriously every day.” Lena: “Du wirst die Frage ernst meinen morgen.” — “You will mean the question seriously tomorrow.” Jonas: “Ich werde die Frage ernst meinen morgen.” — “I will mean the question seriously tomorrow.” Lena: “Du hast den Vorschlag ernst gemeint gestern.” — “You have meant the suggestion seriously yesterday.” Jonas: “Ich habe den Vorschlag ernst gemeint gestern.” — “I have meant the suggestion seriously yesterday.” Lena: “Du meintest es ernst eines Tages.” — “You would mean it seriously one day.” Jonas: “Ich meinte es ernst eines Tages.” — “I would mean it seriously one day.”

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.

Meinen in different tenses

The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of meinen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.

The present: habits and facts

In the present, meinen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is meine: “Ich meine es ernst jeden Tag.” — “I mean it seriously every day.”

The preterite: the past in stories

In the preterite, meinen describes a completed past action, mostly in writing and stories. The er form is meinte: “Er meinte die Frage ernst gestern.” — “He meant the question seriously yesterday.”

The Perfekt: finished actions

In the Perfekt, meinen reports one finished action, built with haben plus the participle gemeint. The ich form is habe gemeint: “Ich habe den Vorschlag ernst gemeint gestern.” — “I have meant the suggestion seriously yesterday.”

The future: what will happen

In the future, meinen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden meinen: “Wir werden es ernst meinen morgen.” — “We will mean it seriously tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv II: what would happen

In Konjunktiv II, meinen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the conditional, and the periphrastic alternative with würde plus the infinitive expresses the same meaning. The du form is meintest: “Du meintest die Frage ernst eines Tages.” — “You would mean the question seriously one day.”

Konjunktiv I: reported speech

In Konjunktiv I, meinen appears in reported speech, after triggers such as es ist wichtig, dass. The form is meine, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich meine den Vorschlag ernst.” — “It is important that I mean the suggestion seriously.”

Common mistakes

Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich meinen es ernst.”

✓ Right: “Ich meine es ernst.”

The infinitive meinen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form meine.

Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Du meine es ernst.”

✓ Right: “Du meinst es ernst.”

meine is the ich form. With du you need meinst. Check the subject before you choose the form.

Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich meine es ernst gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe es ernst gemeint gestern.”

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

Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du meinst die Frage ernst.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du meinest die Frage ernst.”

After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I: meinest, not the indicative meinst.

Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich gemeint es ernst.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe es ernst gemeint.”

The Perfekt of meinen needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gemeint: the full ich form is habe gemeint.

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) meint
    • B) meinen
    • C) meine
    • D) meinst

  2. What is the du form of meinen in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) meinst
    • B) meine
    • C) meint
    • D) meinen

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

    • A) hast gemeint
    • B) haben gemeint
    • C) hat gemeint
    • D) habe gemeint

  4. What is the wir form of meinen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?

    • A) meinten
    • B) meinte
    • C) meintest
    • D) meintet

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

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

  6. What is the ich form of meinen in the Konjunktiv II?

    • A) meinten
    • B) meintet
    • C) meinte
    • D) meintest

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

    • A) meinen
    • B) meinet
    • C) meine
    • D) meinest

  8. What is the ich form of meinen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?

    • A) hattet gemeint
    • B) hatte gemeint
    • C) hattest gemeint
    • D) hatten gemeint

  9. What is the past participle (Partizip II) of meinen?

    • A) vergessen
    • B) geerinnert
    • C) gehofft
    • D) gemeint

  10. What does meinen mean in English?

  • A) to mean
  • B) to forget
  • C) to remember
  • D) to hope

Answer key

  1. C) meine — the ich form of meinen in the Present (Präsens) is meine. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. A) meinst — the du form of meinen in the Present (Präsens) is meinst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. C) hat gemeint — the er/sie/es form of meinen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gemeint. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) meinten — the wir form of meinen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is meinten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. D) wirst meinen — the du form of meinen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst meinen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) meinte — the ich form of meinen in the Konjunktiv II is meinte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. C) meine — the er/sie/es form of meinen in the Konjunktiv I is meine. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. B) hatte gemeint — the ich form of meinen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gemeint. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. D) gemeint — the past participle of meinen is gemeint. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. A) to mean — meinen means “to mean” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does meinen mean in English?

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

Is meinen regular or irregular?

meinen is regular in every tense. Partizip I is meinend and Partizip II is gemeint.

How do I practise meinen every day?

Say one sentence with meinen 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 meine es ernst jeden Tag.”, “Ich habe es ernst gemeint gestern.” and “Ich werde es ernst meinen morgen.”. 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 meinen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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