Schicken Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
How do you actually use schicken — “to send” — in a real sentence? This page shows you: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue, the mistakes learners make most often with this verb, and a quiz to test yourself. Every German form on this page comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for schicken. Start with the simplest sentence: “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “I send a letter to my friend.”
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for schicken, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Schicken in real sentences
Twelve sentences with schicken, covering the present, the Präteritum, the Perfekt, the Plusquamperfekt, the future, Konjunktiv I and II, and the imperative. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “I send a letter to my friend.”
- “Du schickst einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “You send a letter to my friend.”
- “Er schickt einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “He sends a letter to my friend.”
- “Ich schickte einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “I sent a letter to my friend.”
- “Wir schickten einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “We sent a letter to my friend.”
- “Ich habe einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.” — “I have sent a letter to my friend.”
- “Du hast einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.” — “You have sent a letter to my friend.”
- “Ich hatte einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.” — “I had sent a letter to my friend.”
- “Wir werden einen Brief an meine Freundin schicken.” — “We will send a letter to my friend.”
- “Ich werde einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt haben.” — “I will have sent a letter to my friend.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass ich einen Brief an meine Freundin schicke.” — “It is important that I send a letter to my friend.”
- “Ich schickte einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “I would send a letter to my friend if I could.”
- “Ich hätte einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.” — “I would have sent a letter to my friend if I had been able to.”
- “Schick einen Brief an meine Freundin!” — “Send a letter to my friend!”
A short dialogue with schicken
Anna and Ben talk about their plans. Every form of schicken in the dialogue comes from the verified tables — read it aloud, changing the person each time.
Anna: “Du schickst einen Brief an meine Freundin?” — “You send a letter to my friend?”
Ben: “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “I send a letter to my friend.”
Anna: “Du hast einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt?” — “You have sent a letter to my friend?”
Ben: “Ich habe einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.” — “I have sent a letter to my friend.”
Anna: “Du wirst einen Brief an meine Freundin schicken?” — “You will send a letter to my friend?”
Ben: “Ich werde einen Brief an meine Freundin schicken.” — “I will send a letter to my friend.”
Anna: “Schick einen Brief an meine Freundin!” — “Send a letter to my friend!”
Ben: “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “I send a letter to my friend.”
Notice how the verb changes with the person and the tense while the meaning stays the same: schicke, schickst, habe geschickt, werde schicken. If you can follow this dialogue without looking at the tables, you know schicken well enough to use it.
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich schicken einen Brief an meine Freundin.”
✓ Right: “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.”
The infinitive schicken never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form schicke.
2. Confusing schicken with senden
✗ Wrong: “Ich senden einen Brief an meine Freundin.” (using the wrong verb)
✓ Right: “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.”
schicken means “to send”; senden means “to send”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the Perfekt (habe geschickt), not the present.
4. Using the indicative after a Konjunktiv I trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du einen Brief an meine Freundin schickst.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du einen Brief an meine Freundin schickest.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use schickest here, not the indicative schickst.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the ich form of schicken in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) schicken
- B) schicke
- C) schickst
- D) schickt
What is the er/sie/es form of schicken in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) schickt
- B) schickst
- C) schicken
- D) schicke
What is the du form of schicken in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) schickte
- B) schicktet
- C) schicktest
- D) schickten
What is the wir form of schicken in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) habt geschickt
- B) habe geschickt
- C) haben geschickt
- D) hast geschickt
What is the ich form of schicken in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wirst schicken
- B) werde schicken
- C) wird schicken
- D) werdet schicken
What is the du form of schicken in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) schicktet
- B) schicktest
- C) schickten
- D) schickte
What is the ich form of schicken in the Conditional perfect?
- A) hätten geschickt
- B) hättet geschickt
- C) hättest geschickt
- D) hätte geschickt
What is the past participle of schicken?
- A) schicke
- B) schickte
- C) schickend
- D) geschickt
What is the present participle of schicken?
- A) werde schicken
- B) geschickt
- C) schickend
- D) schicke
What does schicken mean in English?
- A) to come
- B) to send
- C) to do
Answer key
- B) schicke — the ich form of schicken in the present tense is schicke.
- A) schickt — the er/sie/es form of schicken in the present tense is schickt.
- C) schicktest — the du form of schicken in the preterite is schicktest.
- C) haben geschickt — the wir form of schicken in the Perfekt is haben geschickt.
- B) werde schicken — the ich form of schicken in the Futur I is werde schicken.
- B) schicktest — the du form of schicken in the Konjunktiv II is schicktest.
- D) hätte geschickt — the ich form of schicken in the conditional perfect is hätte geschickt.
- D) geschickt — the past participle of schicken is geschickt; perfect tenses use haben + geschickt.
- C) schickend — the present participle of schicken is schickend.
- B) to send — schicken means “to send” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does schicken mean in English?
schicken means “to send”. The examples above show it in everyday situations — for example, “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.” (“I send a letter to my friend.”).
Is schicken regular or irregular?
schicken is regular: its endings follow the standard weak pattern in every tense. The full tables are on the conjugation page.
How do I use schicken in the Perfekt?
Use haben + the past participle geschickt: “Ich habe einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.” — “I have sent a letter to my friend.” The full Perfekt table is on the conjugation page.
Related pages
- schicken conjugation — the full conjugation tables for this verb in every tense.
- schicken in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in one tense.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- German present tense guide — how this tense works for regular verbs.
- Einladen conjugation — another German verb to practise with.
- Treffen conjugation — another German verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise schicken with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise schicken with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.