Reisen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Reisen means “to travel”, 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 reisen, 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 reisen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich reise nach Italien jeden Tag.” — “I travel to Italy every day.”
- “Du reist nach Spanien jeden Tag.” — “You travel to Spain every day.”
- “Ich bin in den Urlaub gereist gestern.” — “I have travelled on holiday yesterday.”
- “Er reiste nach Italien gestern.” — “He travelled to Italy yesterday.”
- “Wir werden nach Spanien reisen morgen.” — “We will travel to Spain tomorrow.”
- “Du bist in den Urlaub gereist gestern.” — “You have travelled on holiday yesterday.”
- “Ich reiste nach Italien eines Tages.” — “I would travel to Italy one day.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass er reise nach Spanien.” — “It is important that he travel to Spain.”
- “Wir waren in den Urlaub gereist vor der Party.” — “We had travelled on holiday before the party.”
- “Er wird nach Italien reisen morgen.” — “He will travel to Italy tomorrow.”
- “Sie reisen nach Spanien jeden Tag.” — “They travel to Spain every day.”
- “Reis in den Urlaub!” — “Travel on holiday!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about to Italy. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how reisen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of reisen below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Du reist nach Italien jeden Tag.” — “You travel to Italy every day.” Jonas: “Ich reise nach Italien jeden Tag.” — “I travel to Italy every day.” Lena: “Du wirst nach Spanien reisen morgen.” — “You will travel to Spain tomorrow.” Jonas: “Ich werde nach Spanien reisen morgen.” — “I will travel to Spain tomorrow.” Lena: “Du bist in den Urlaub gereist gestern.” — “You have travelled on holiday yesterday.” Jonas: “Ich bin in den Urlaub gereist gestern.” — “I have travelled on holiday yesterday.” Lena: “Du reistest nach Italien eines Tages.” — “You would travel to Italy one day.” Jonas: “Ich reiste nach Italien eines Tages.” — “I would travel to Italy 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.
Reisen in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of reisen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, reisen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is reise: “Ich reise nach Italien jeden Tag.” — “I travel to Italy every day.”
The preterite: the past in stories
In the preterite, reisen describes a completed past action, mostly in writing and stories. The er form is reiste: “Er reiste nach Spanien gestern.” — “He travelled to Spain yesterday.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, reisen reports one finished action, built with sein plus the participle gereist. The ich form is bin gereist: “Ich bin in den Urlaub gereist gestern.” — “I have travelled on holiday yesterday.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, reisen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden reisen: “Wir werden nach Italien reisen morgen.” — “We will travel to Italy tomorrow.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, reisen 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 reistest: “Du reistest nach Spanien eines Tages.” — “You would travel to Spain one day.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In Konjunktiv I, reisen appears in reported speech, after triggers such as es ist wichtig, dass. The form is reise, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich reise in den Urlaub.” — “It is important that I travel on holiday.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich reisen nach Italien.”
✓ Right: “Ich reise nach Italien.”
The infinitive reisen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form reise.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du reise nach Italien.”
✓ Right: “Du reist nach Italien.”
reise is the ich form. With du you need reist. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich reise nach Italien gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich bin nach Italien gereist gestern.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt bin gereist, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du reist nach Spanien.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du reisest nach Spanien.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I: reisest, not the indicative reist.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich gereist nach Italien.”
✓ Right: “Ich bin nach Italien gereist.”
The Perfekt of reisen needs the auxiliary sein plus the participle gereist: the full ich form is bin gereist.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on reisen. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of reisen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) reise
- B) reist
- C) reisen
- D) reiste
What is the du form of reisen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) reistest
- B) reist
- C) reise
- D) reisen
What is the er/sie/es form of reisen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) sind gereist
- B) ist gereist
- C) bin gereist
- D) bist gereist
What is the wir form of reisen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) reistest
- B) reistet
- C) reisten
- D) reiste
What is the du form of reisen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werden reisen
- B) wirst reisen
- C) werde reisen
- D) wird reisen
What is the ich form of reisen in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) reiste
- B) reistest
- C) reisten
- D) reistet
What is the er/sie/es form of reisen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) reise
- B) reisest
- C) reisen
- D) reiset
What is the ich form of reisen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) warst gereist
- B) waren gereist
- C) wart gereist
- D) war gereist
What is the past participle (Partizip II) of reisen?
- A) gewonnen
- B) gereist
- C) besucht
- D) gekostet
What does reisen mean in English?
- A) to visit
- B) to cost
- C) to win
- D) to travel
Answer key
- A) reise — the ich form of reisen in the Present (Präsens) is reise. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) reist — the du form of reisen in the Present (Präsens) is reist. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) ist gereist — the er/sie/es form of reisen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is ist gereist. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) reisten — the wir form of reisen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is reisten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) wirst reisen — the du form of reisen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst reisen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) reiste — the ich form of reisen in the Konjunktiv II is reiste. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) reise — the er/sie/es form of reisen in the Konjunktiv I is reise. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) war gereist — the ich form of reisen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is war gereist. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) gereist — the past participle of reisen is gereist. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to travel — reisen means “to travel” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does reisen mean in English?
reisen means “to travel”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is reisen regular or irregular?
reisen is regular in every tense. Partizip I is reisend and Partizip II is gereist.
How do I practise reisen every day?
Say one sentence with reisen 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 reise nach Italien jeden Tag.”, “Ich bin nach Italien gereist gestern.” and “Ich werde nach Italien reisen 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 reisen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of reisen — every tense of reisen in one place.
- Reisen in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Reisen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Besuchen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Kosten conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Gewinnen 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 reisen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise reisen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise reisen with the interactive tool.