Nehmen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Nehmen means “to take”, 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 nehmen, 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 nehmen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich nehme einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “I take a coffee in the morning.”
- “Du nimmst den Zug um acht Uhr.” — “You take the train at eight o'clock.”
- “Ich habe ein Foto von Berlin genommen.” — “I have taken a photo of Berlin.”
- “Er nahm einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “He took a coffee in the morning.”
- “Wir werden den Zug um acht Uhr nehmen.” — “We will take the train at eight o'clock.”
- “Du hast ein Foto von Berlin genommen.” — “You have taken a photo of Berlin.”
- “Ich nähme einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “I would take a coffee in the morning.”
- “Er nehme den Zug um acht Uhr.” — “He takes the train at eight o'clock.”
- “Wir hatten ein Foto von Berlin genommen.” — “We had taken a photo of Berlin.”
- “Er wird einen Kaffee am Morgen nehmen.” — “He will take a coffee in the morning.”
- “Sie nehmen den Zug um acht Uhr.” — “They take the train at eight o'clock.”
- “Nimm ein Foto von Berlin!” — “Take a photo of Berlin!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about a coffee in the morning. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how nehmen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of nehmen below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Nimmst du einen Kaffee am Morgen?” — “You take a coffee in the morning?” Jonas: “Ich nehme einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “I take a coffee in the morning.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde den Zug um acht Uhr nehmen.” — “I will take the train at eight o'clock.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe ein Foto von Berlin genommen.” — “I have taken a photo of Berlin.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich nähme einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “I would take a coffee in the morning.”
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.
Nehmen in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of nehmen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, nehmen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is nehme: “Ich nehme einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “I take a coffee in the morning.”
The preterite: the past as a finished event
In the preterite, nehmen describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is nahm: “Er nahm den Zug um acht Uhr.” — “He took the train at eight o'clock.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, nehmen reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle genommen. The ich form is habe genommen: “Ich habe ein Foto von Berlin genommen.” — “I have taken a photo of Berlin.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, nehmen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden nehmen: “Wir werden einen Kaffee am Morgen nehmen.” — “We will take a coffee in the morning.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, nehmen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is nähmest: “Du nähmest den Zug um acht Uhr.” — “You would take the train at eight o'clock.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In reported speech, nehmen appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is nehme: “Er nehme ein Foto von Berlin.” — “He takes a photo of Berlin.” 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 nehmen einen Kaffee am Morgen.”
✓ Right: “Ich nehme einen Kaffee am Morgen.”
The infinitive nehmen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form nehme.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du nehme einen Kaffee am Morgen.”
✓ Right: “Du nimmst einen Kaffee am Morgen.”
nehme is the ich form. With du you need nimmst. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich nehme einen Kaffee am Morgen gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe einen Kaffee am Morgen genommen.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe genommen, not the present.
Using the indicative in reported speech
✗ Wrong: “Ich nehme einen Kaffee am Morgen.” (quoted as reported speech)
✓ Right: “Ich nehme einen Kaffee am Morgen.” (quoted as reported speech)
In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: nehme, not the indicative nehme.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich genommen einen Kaffee am Morgen.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe einen Kaffee am Morgen genommen.”
The Perfekt of nehmen needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle genommen: the full ich form is habe genommen.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on nehmen. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of nehmen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) nimmst
- B) nimmt
- C) nehmen
- D) nehme
What is the du form of nehmen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) nimmst
- B) nehme
- C) nimmt
- D) nehmen
What is the er/sie/es form of nehmen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) haben genommen
- B) hat genommen
- C) habe genommen
- D) hast genommen
What is the wir form of nehmen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) nahmt
- B) nahmen
- C) nahm
- D) nahmst
What is the du form of nehmen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wirst nehmen
- B) werde nehmen
- C) wird nehmen
- D) werden nehmen
What is the ich form of nehmen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) nähme
- B) nähmest
- C) nähmen
- D) nähmet
What is the er/sie/es form of nehmen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) nehmest
- B) nehmen
- C) nehmet
- D) nehme
What is the ich form of nehmen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatte genommen
- B) hattest genommen
- C) hatten genommen
- D) hattet genommen
What is the past participle of nehmen?
- A) gestanden
- B) geblieben
- C) genommen
- D) gefunden
What does nehmen mean in English?
- A) to take
- B) to find
- C) to stand
- D) to stay
Answer key
- D) nehme — the ich form of nehmen in the Present (Präsens) is nehme. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) nimmst — the du form of nehmen in the Present (Präsens) is nimmst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) hat genommen — the er/sie/es form of nehmen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat genommen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) nahmen — the wir form of nehmen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is nahmen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) wirst nehmen — the du form of nehmen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst nehmen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) nähme — the ich form of nehmen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is nähme. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) nehme — the er/sie/es form of nehmen in the Konjunktiv I is nehme. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) hatte genommen — the ich form of nehmen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte genommen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) genommen — the past participle of nehmen is genommen. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- A) to take — nehmen means “to take” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does nehmen mean in English?
nehmen means “to take”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is nehmen regular or irregular?
nehmen is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is nehmend and the past participle is genommen.
How do I practise nehmen every day?
Say one sentence with nehmen 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 nehme einen Kaffee am Morgen.”, “Ich habe einen Kaffee am Morgen genommen.” and “Ich werde einen Kaffee am Morgen nehmen.”. 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 nehmen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of nehmen — every tense of nehmen in one place.
- Nehmen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Nehmen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Finden conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Stehen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Bleiben conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- 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 nehmen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise nehmen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise nehmen with the interactive tool.