Schicken Conjugation in German
schicken means “to send” in English, and it is a verb German learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of schicken — every tense, every person, the participles and the infinitive — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “I send a letter to my friend.” Learning the forms on this page first, before you try to use the verb in conversation, saves you from guessing later: German endings change with the person and the tense, and schicken is no exception. Work through the tables one tense at a time, say each form aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: schicken
- English: to send
- Verb type: Weak verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Present participle (Partizip I): schickend
- Past participle (Partizip II): geschickt
- Auxiliary: haben (all perfect tenses are formed with haben + the past participle)
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.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for schicken. Learn the present tense first, then the Perfekt and the Präteritum, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present (Präsens)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | schicke |
| du | schickst |
| er/sie/es | schickt |
| wir | schicken |
| ihr | schickt |
| sie/Sie | schicken |
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | schickte |
| du | schicktest |
| er/sie/es | schickte |
| wir | schickten |
| ihr | schicktet |
| sie/Sie | schickten |
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe geschickt |
| du | hast geschickt |
| er/sie/es | hat geschickt |
| wir | haben geschickt |
| ihr | habt geschickt |
| sie/Sie | haben geschickt |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte geschickt |
| du | hattest geschickt |
| er/sie/es | hatte geschickt |
| wir | hatten geschickt |
| ihr | hattet geschickt |
| sie/Sie | hatten geschickt |
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde schicken |
| du | wirst schicken |
| er/sie/es | wird schicken |
| wir | werden schicken |
| ihr | werdet schicken |
| sie/Sie | werden schicken |
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde geschickt haben |
| du | wirst geschickt haben |
| er/sie/es | wird geschickt haben |
| wir | werden geschickt haben |
| ihr | werdet geschickt haben |
| sie/Sie | werden geschickt haben |
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | schicke |
| du | schickest |
| er/sie/es | schicke |
| wir | schicken |
| ihr | schicket |
| sie/Sie | schicken |
Konjunktiv II
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | schickte |
| du | schicktest |
| er/sie/es | schickte |
| wir | schickten |
| ihr | schicktet |
| sie/Sie | schickten |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hätte geschickt |
| du | hättest geschickt |
| er/sie/es | hätte geschickt |
| wir | hätten geschickt |
| ihr | hättet geschickt |
| sie/Sie | hätten geschickt |
Imperative (Imperativ)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | schick |
| wir | schicken |
| ihr | schickt |
| sie/Sie | schicken |
Participles and infinitive
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle (Partizip I) | schickend |
| Past participle (Partizip II) | geschickt |
| Infinitive | schicken |
When to use each tense
Present (Präsens)
The present tense is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “I send a letter to my friend.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past, especially in writing and narration. For example: “Du schicktest einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “You sent a letter to my friend.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
The Perfekt is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. With schicken it is formed with haben + the past participle geschickt. For example: “Er hat einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.” — “He has sent a letter to my friend.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
The Plusquamperfekt is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.” — “We had sent a letter to my friend.”
Future (Futur I)
The Futur I is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Ihr werdet einen Brief an meine Freundin schicken.” — “You will send a letter to my friend.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
The Futur II is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Sie werden einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt haben.” — “They will have sent a letter to my friend.”
Konjunktiv I
The Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich einen Brief an meine Freundin schicke.” — “It is important that I send a letter to my friend.”
Konjunktiv II
The Konjunktiv II is used for wishes, polite requests and hypothetical situations — it also doubles as the conditional. There is no separate würde tense in the tables: the Konjunktiv II forms below do the work of the conditional, and würde + infinitive is the periphrastic alternative you will hear in speech. For example: “Du schicktest einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “You would send a letter to my friend if you could.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.” — “He would have sent a letter to my friend if he had been able to.”
Imperative (Imperativ)
The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Schick einen Brief an meine Freundin!” — “Send a letter to my friend!”
Participles and infinitive
The present participle is schickend — “while sending” — used as an adjective or adverb. The past participle is geschickt, used with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe geschickt. The infinitive is schicken.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with schicken, covering different tenses and persons. 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 schickte einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “He sent a letter to my friend.”
- “Ich habe einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.” — “I have sent a letter to my friend.”
- “Er hatte einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.” — “He 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.”
- “Schick einen Brief an meine Freundin!” — “Send a letter to my friend!”
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 wrong auxiliary for the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich bin einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe einen Brief an meine Freundin geschickt.”
With schicken the Perfekt is formed with haben, not sein: habe geschickt.
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.
5. 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.
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 ich form of schicken in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) schickten
- B) schicktest
- C) schickte
- D) schicktet
What is the ich form of schicken in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) habe geschickt
- B) habt geschickt
- C) hat geschickt
- D) haben geschickt
What is the wir form of schicken in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hattest geschickt
- B) hatte geschickt
- C) hattet geschickt
- D) hatten geschickt
What is the du form of schicken in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wirst schicken
- B) werden schicken
- C) werde schicken
- D) werdet schicken
What is the ich form of schicken in the Future perfect (Futur II)?
- A) wird geschickt haben
- B) werden geschickt haben
- C) werdet geschickt haben
- D) werde geschickt haben
What is the ich form of schicken in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) schicktest
- B) schickten
- C) schicktet
- D) schickte
What is the past participle of schicken?
- A) schicke
- B) schickend
- C) schickte
- D) geschickt
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) schickte — the ich form of schicken in the preterite is schickte.
- A) habe geschickt — the ich form of schicken in the Perfekt is habe geschickt.
- D) hatten geschickt — the wir form of schicken in the Plusquamperfekt is hatten geschickt.
- A) wirst schicken — the du form of schicken in the Futur I is wirst schicken.
- D) werde geschickt haben — the ich form of schicken in the Futur II is werde geschickt haben.
- D) schickte — the ich form of schicken in the Konjunktiv II is schickte.
- D) geschickt — the past participle of schicken is geschickt; perfect tenses use haben + geschickt.
- B) to send — schicken means “to send” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does schicken mean in English?
schicken means “to send”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.” (“I send a letter to my friend.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is schicken regular or irregular?
schicken is regular: its endings follow the standard weak pattern in every tense. The present participle is schickend and the past participle is geschickt.
What are the participles of schicken?
The present participle is schickend and the past participle is geschickt — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe geschickt.
What is the difference between schicken and senden?
schicken means “to send”, while senden means “to send”. They are easy to mix up because they appear in similar situations, but their meanings are different. If you are unsure, check the full conjugation page for senden and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I send” in German?
Say “Ich schicke einen Brief an meine Freundin.” — “I send a letter to my friend.” The ich form of the present is schicke, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn schicken
Start with the present tense: schicke, schickst, schickt, schicken, schickt, schicken. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the Perfekt — habe geschickt — and the Präteritum — schickte. Next, learn the future (werde schicken) and the Konjunktiv II (schickte), which also does the work of the conditional. Finally, tackle Konjunktiv I (schicke) and the imperative (schick). Write one sentence of your own in each tense, using the examples above as models, and check every form against the tables. When you can produce all six persons of the present without looking, move on to the quiz.
Related pages
- schicken in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- schicken examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- 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.