Senden Conjugation in German
senden 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 senden — 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 sende eine E-Mail an den Chef.” — “I send an email to the boss.” 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 senden 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: senden
- English: to send
- Verb type: Mixed verb
- Irregular in: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative
- Present participle (Partizip I): sendend
- Past participle (Partizip II): gesandt
- 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 senden, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
senden is a mixed verb: its preterite (sandte) and its past participle (gesandt) do not follow the weak -te pattern, so learn them as a set. The present tense itself keeps the plain stem in every person.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for senden. 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 | sende |
| du | sendest |
| er/sie/es | sendet |
| wir | senden |
| ihr | sendet |
| sie/Sie | senden |
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | sandte |
| du | sandtest |
| er/sie/es | sandte |
| wir | sandten |
| ihr | sandtet |
| sie/Sie | sandten |
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe gesandt |
| du | hast gesandt |
| er/sie/es | hat gesandt |
| wir | haben gesandt |
| ihr | habt gesandt |
| sie/Sie | haben gesandt |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte gesandt |
| du | hattest gesandt |
| er/sie/es | hatte gesandt |
| wir | hatten gesandt |
| ihr | hattet gesandt |
| sie/Sie | hatten gesandt |
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde senden |
| du | wirst senden |
| er/sie/es | wird senden |
| wir | werden senden |
| ihr | werdet senden |
| sie/Sie | werden senden |
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde gesandt haben |
| du | wirst gesandt haben |
| er/sie/es | wird gesandt haben |
| wir | werden gesandt haben |
| ihr | werdet gesandt haben |
| sie/Sie | werden gesandt haben |
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | sende |
| du | sendest |
| er/sie/es | sende |
| wir | senden |
| ihr | sendet |
| sie/Sie | senden |
Konjunktiv II
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | sendete |
| du | sendetest |
| er/sie/es | sendete |
| wir | sendeten |
| ihr | sendetet |
| sie/Sie | sendeten |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hätte gesandt |
| du | hättest gesandt |
| er/sie/es | hätte gesandt |
| wir | hätten gesandt |
| ihr | hättet gesandt |
| sie/Sie | hätten gesandt |
Imperative (Imperativ)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | sende |
| wir | senden |
| ihr | sendet |
| sie/Sie | senden |
Participles and infinitive
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle (Partizip I) | sendend |
| Past participle (Partizip II) | gesandt |
| Infinitive | senden |
When to use each tense
Present (Präsens)
The present tense is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With senden this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ich sende eine E-Mail an den Chef.” — “I send an email to the boss.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past, especially in writing and narration. With senden this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Du sandtest eine E-Mail an den Chef.” — “You sent an email to the boss.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
The Perfekt is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. With senden it is formed with haben + the past participle gesandt. For example: “Er hat eine E-Mail an den Chef gesandt.” — “He has sent an email to the boss.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
The Plusquamperfekt is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten eine E-Mail an den Chef gesandt.” — “We had sent an email to the boss.”
Future (Futur I)
The Futur I is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Ihr werdet eine E-Mail an den Chef senden.” — “You will send an email to the boss.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
The Futur II is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Sie werden eine E-Mail an den Chef gesandt haben.” — “They will have sent an email to the boss.”
Konjunktiv I
The Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich eine E-Mail an den Chef sende.” — “It is important that I send an email to the boss.”
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 sendetest eine E-Mail an den Chef.” — “You would send an email to the boss if you could.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte eine E-Mail an den Chef gesandt.” — “He would have sent an email to the boss if he had been able to.”
Imperative (Imperativ)
The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. With senden this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Sende eine E-Mail an den Chef!” — “Send an email to the boss!”
Participles and infinitive
The present participle is sendend — “while sending” — used as an adjective or adverb. The past participle is gesandt, used with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe gesandt. The infinitive is senden.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with senden, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich sende eine E-Mail an den Chef.” — “I send an email to the boss.”
- “Du sendest eine E-Mail an den Chef.” — “You send an email to the boss.”
- “Er sandte eine E-Mail an den Chef.” — “He sent an email to the boss.”
- “Ich habe eine E-Mail an den Chef gesandt.” — “I have sent an email to the boss.”
- “Er hatte eine E-Mail an den Chef gesandt.” — “He had sent an email to the boss.”
- “Wir werden eine E-Mail an den Chef senden.” — “We will send an email to the boss.”
- “Ich werde eine E-Mail an den Chef gesandt haben.” — “I will have sent an email to the boss.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass ich eine E-Mail an den Chef sende.” — “It is important that I send an email to the boss.”
- “Ich sendete eine E-Mail an den Chef.” — “I would send an email to the boss if I could.”
- “Sende eine E-Mail an den Chef!” — “Send an email to the boss!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich senden eine E-Mail an den Chef.”
✓ Right: “Ich sende eine E-Mail an den Chef.”
The infinitive senden never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form sende.
2. Confusing senden with schicken
✗ Wrong: “Ich schicken eine E-Mail an den Chef.” (using the wrong verb)
✓ Right: “Ich sende eine E-Mail an den Chef.”
senden means “to send”; schicken means “to send”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Applying the regular pattern to senden
✗ Wrong: “Ich sendte eine E-Mail an den Chef.” (a guessed regular preterite)
✓ Right: “Ich sandte eine E-Mail an den Chef.”
senden is irregular in present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The preterite form for ich is sandte, not what the regular -te endings would give — learn it as a set.
4. Using the indicative after a Konjunktiv I trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass er eine E-Mail an den Chef sendet.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass er eine E-Mail an den Chef sende.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use sende here, not the indicative sendet.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “Ich sende eine E-Mail an den Chef.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe eine E-Mail an den Chef gesandt.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the Perfekt (habe gesandt), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the ich form of senden in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) senden
- B) sende
- C) sendest
- D) sendet
What is the er/sie/es form of senden in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) sendest
- B) sende
- C) senden
- D) sendet
What is the ich form of senden in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) sandten
- B) sandte
- C) sandtet
- D) sandtest
What is the ich form of senden in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) habe gesandt
- B) hast gesandt
- C) hat gesandt
- D) haben gesandt
What is the wir form of senden in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hattet gesandt
- B) hatten gesandt
- C) hattest gesandt
- D) hatte gesandt
What is the du form of senden in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werdet senden
- B) werden senden
- C) wirst senden
- D) werde senden
What is the ich form of senden in the Future perfect (Futur II)?
- A) wirst gesandt haben
- B) werde gesandt haben
- C) wird gesandt haben
- D) werden gesandt haben
What is the ich form of senden in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) sendetest
- B) sendete
- C) sendetet
- D) sendeten
What is the past participle of senden?
- A) sende
- B) sandte
- C) sendend
- D) gesandt
What does senden mean in English?
- A) to come
- B) to send
- C) to do
Answer key
- B) sende — the ich form of senden in the present tense is sende.
- D) sendet — the er/sie/es form of senden in the present tense is sendet.
- B) sandte — the ich form of senden in the preterite is sandte.
- A) habe gesandt — the ich form of senden in the Perfekt is habe gesandt.
- B) hatten gesandt — the wir form of senden in the Plusquamperfekt is hatten gesandt.
- C) wirst senden — the du form of senden in the Futur I is wirst senden.
- B) werde gesandt haben — the ich form of senden in the Futur II is werde gesandt haben.
- B) sendete — the ich form of senden in the Konjunktiv II is sendete.
- D) gesandt — the past participle of senden is gesandt; perfect tenses use haben + gesandt.
- B) to send — senden means “to send” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does senden mean in English?
senden means “to send”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Ich sende eine E-Mail an den Chef.” (“I send an email to the boss.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is senden regular or irregular?
senden is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is sendend and the past participle is gesandt.
What are the participles of senden?
The present participle is sendend and the past participle is gesandt — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe gesandt.
What is the difference between senden and schicken?
senden means “to send”, while schicken 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 schicken and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I send” in German?
Say “Ich sende eine E-Mail an den Chef.” — “I send an email to the boss.” The ich form of the present is sende, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn senden
Start with the present tense: sende, sendest, sendet, senden, sendet, senden. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the Perfekt — habe gesandt — and the Präteritum — sandte. Next, learn the future (werde senden) and the Konjunktiv II (sendete), which also does the work of the conditional. Finally, tackle Konjunktiv I (sende) and the imperative (sende). 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
- senden in the Perfekt tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the Perfekt tense.
- senden examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- 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 senden with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise senden with the interactive tool.
- Perfect Tenses Builder — practise the perfect tenses with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.