Reisen Conjugation in German

reisen means “to travel” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 89 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about travelling to Italy, 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 reisen — every tense, every person, both participles and the infinitive — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Ich reise nach Italien jeden Tag.” — “I travel to Italy every day.”

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: reisen
  • English: to travel
  • Verb type: Regular
  • Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
  • Pattern: weak
  • Separable: no
  • Participle I: reisend
  • Past participle (Partizip II): gereist
  • Auxiliary: sein (all perfect tenses are formed with sein + the past participle)

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. 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 reisen in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.

Three things to remember about reisen

  1. 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.
  2. The perfect tenses use sein: the perfect is formed with sein in the present plus the past participle gereist. The tables on this page give the participle in the uninflected form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
  3. Partizip I is reisend and Partizip II is gereist: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because Partizip I appears in adjectival uses and Partizip II 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 reisen. 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 reise
du reist
er/sie/es reist
wir reisen
ihr reist
sie/Sie reisen

The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Ich reise nach Spanien jeden Tag.” — “I travel to Spain every day.”

Preterite (Präteritum)

Person Form
ich reiste
du reistest
er/sie/es reiste
wir reisten
ihr reistet
sie/Sie reisten

The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. For example: “Du reistest nach Spanien gestern.” — “You travelled to Spain yesterday.”

Perfect (Perfekt)

Person Form
ich bin gereist
du bist gereist
er/sie/es ist gereist
wir sind gereist
ihr seid gereist
sie/Sie sind gereist

The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er ist nach Spanien gereist gestern.” — “He has travelled to Spain yesterday.”

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

Person Form
ich war gereist
du warst gereist
er/sie/es war gereist
wir waren gereist
ihr wart gereist
sie/Sie waren gereist

The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir waren nach Spanien gereist vor der Party.” — “We had travelled to Spain before the party.”

Future (Futur I)

Person Form
ich werde reisen
du wirst reisen
er/sie/es wird reisen
wir werden reisen
ihr werdet reisen
sie/Sie werden reisen

The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde nach Spanien reisen morgen.” — “I will travel to Spain tomorrow.”

Future perfect (Futur II)

Person Form
ich werde gereist sein
du wirst gereist sein
er/sie/es wird gereist sein
wir werden gereist sein
ihr werdet gereist sein
sie/Sie werden gereist sein

The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst nach Spanien gereist sein bis morgen.” — “You will have travelled to Spain by tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv I

Person Form
ich reise
du reisest
er/sie/es reise
wir reisen
ihr reiset
sie/Sie reisen

Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er reise nach Spanien.” — “It is important that he travel to Spain.”

Konjunktiv II

Person Form
ich reiste
du reistest
er/sie/es reiste
wir reisten
ihr reistet
sie/Sie reisten

Konjunktiv II is used for wishes, hypothetical situations and polite requests. It doubles as the conditional: there is no separate würde tense in the tables, and the periphrastic alternative with würde plus the infinitive is a way of expressing the same meaning, not a tense of its own. For example: “Ich reiste nach Spanien eines Tages.” — “I would travel to Spain one day.”

Conditional perfect

Person Form
ich wäre gereist
du wärst gereist
er/sie/es wäre gereist
wir wären gereist
ihr wärt gereist
sie/Sie wären gereist

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er wäre nach Spanien gereist gestern.” — “He would have travelled to Spain yesterday.”

Imperative

Person Form
du reis
wir reisen
ihr reist
sie reisen

The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Reis nach Spanien!” — “Travel to Spain!”

Present participle (Partizip I)

Form German
Present participle reisend

The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle reisend describes something that is travelling. The present-tense sentence “Ich reise nach Italien jeden Tag.” — “I travel to Italy every day.” shows the same verb in action.

Past participle (Partizip II)

Form German
Past participle gereist

The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich bin nach Italien gereist gestern.” — “I have travelled to Italy yesterday.”

Infinitive

Form German
Infinitive reisen

The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive reisen is the form you look up in a dictionary. In a sentence it appears after a modal verb or with zu, and in the future it follows werden, as in “Ich werde nach Italien reisen morgen.” — “I will travel to Italy tomorrow.”

Example sentences

Ten natural sentences with reisen, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.

  1. “Ich reise nach Italien jeden Tag.” — “I travel to Italy every day.”
  2. “Du reistest nach Spanien gestern.” — “You travelled to Spain yesterday.”
  3. “Er ist in den Urlaub gereist gestern.” — “He has travelled on holiday yesterday.”
  4. “Wir waren nach Italien gereist vor der Party.” — “We had travelled to Italy before the party.”
  5. “Ich werde nach Spanien reisen morgen.” — “I will travel to Spain tomorrow.”
  6. “Du wirst in den Urlaub gereist sein bis morgen.” — “You will have travelled on holiday by tomorrow.”
  7. “Es ist wichtig, dass er reise nach Italien.” — “It is important that he travel to Italy.”
  8. “Ich reiste nach Spanien eines Tages.” — “I would travel to Spain one day.”
  9. “Er wäre in den Urlaub gereist gestern.” — “He would have travelled on holiday yesterday.”
  10. “Reis nach Italien!” — “Travel to Italy!”

Common mistakes

1. 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 present form reise.

2. Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Ich reisen nach Italien.”

✓ Right: “Ich reise nach Italien.”

reisen is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with reise.

3. 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.

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich reise nach Italien.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich reise nach Italien.”

After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use reise here, not the indicative reise.

5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich habe gereist nach Italien.”

✓ Right: “bin gereist nach Italien.”

The Perfekt of reisen is formed with sein plus the past participle gereist: the ich form is bin gereist. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.

6. Using the preterite for a daily habit

✗ Wrong: “Ich reiste nach Italien jeden Tag.”

✓ Right: “Ich reise nach Italien jeden Tag.”

The preterite reiste describes a past action. For something you do every day, use the present reise.

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) reise
    • B) reist
    • C) reisen
    • D) reiste

  2. What is the du form of reisen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?

    • A) reistet
    • B) reistest
    • C) reiste
    • D) reisten

  3. 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

  4. What is the wir form of reisen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?

    • A) waren gereist
    • B) war gereist
    • C) warst gereist
    • D) wart gereist

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

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

  6. What is the ich form of reisen in the Future perfect (Futur II)?

    • A) wirst gereist sein
    • B) wird gereist sein
    • C) werden gereist sein
    • D) werde gereist sein

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

    • A) reise
    • B) reisest
    • C) reisen
    • D) reiset

  8. What is the ich form of reisen in the Konjunktiv II?

    • A) reiste
    • B) reistest
    • C) reisten
    • D) reistet

  9. What is the present participle (Partizip I) of reisen?

    • A) kostend
    • B) gewinnend
    • C) reisend
    • D) besuchend

  10. What does reisen mean in English?

  • A) to visit
  • B) to cost
  • C) to win
  • D) to travel

Answer key

  1. A) reise — the ich form of reisen in the Present (Präsens) is reise. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. B) reistest — the du form of reisen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is reistest. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. 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.
  4. A) waren gereist — the wir form of reisen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is waren gereist. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. 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.
  6. D) werde gereist sein — the ich form of reisen in the Future perfect (Futur II) is werde gereist sein. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. 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.
  8. A) reiste — the ich form of reisen in the Konjunktiv II is reiste. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. C) reisend — the present participle (Partizip I) of reisen is reisend. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. 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: it follows the ordinary weak pattern in every tense. Partizip I is reisend and Partizip II is gereist.

What are the participles of reisen?

Partizip I is reisend — use it as an adjective. Partizip II is gereist — use it with sein for the perfect tenses, as in bin gereist.

Which auxiliary does reisen take in the Perfekt?

reisen takes sein in the Perfekt: the ich form is bin gereist. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with sein plus the past participle gereist.

How do I say “I travel” in German?

Say “Ich reise nach Italien jeden Tag.” — “I travel to Italy every day.” The ich form of the present is reise, and it is the form you will use most often.

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