Stehen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Stehen means “to stand”, 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 stehen, 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 stehen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich stehe vor der Tür.” — “I stand in front of the door.”
- “Du stehst im Garten bei den Blumen.” — “You stand in the garden by the flowers.”
- “Ich habe jeden Morgen am Fenster gestanden.” — “I have stood at the window every morning.”
- “Er stand vor der Tür.” — “He stood in front of the door.”
- “Wir werden im Garten bei den Blumen stehen.” — “We will stand in the garden by the flowers.”
- “Du hast jeden Morgen am Fenster gestanden.” — “You have stood at the window every morning.”
- “Ich stände vor der Tür.” — “I would stand in front of the door.”
- “Er stehe im Garten bei den Blumen.” — “He stands in the garden by the flowers.”
- “Wir hatten jeden Morgen am Fenster gestanden.” — “We had stood at the window every morning.”
- “Er wird vor der Tür stehen.” — “He will stand in front of the door.”
- “Sie stehen im Garten bei den Blumen.” — “They stand in the garden by the flowers.”
- “Steh jeden Morgen am Fenster!” — “Stand at the window every morning!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about in front of the door. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how stehen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of stehen below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Stehst du vor der Tür?” — “You stand in front of the door?” Jonas: “Ich stehe vor der Tür.” — “I stand in front of the door.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde im Garten bei den Blumen stehen.” — “I will stand in the garden by the flowers.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe jeden Morgen am Fenster gestanden.” — “I have stood at the window every morning.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich stände vor der Tür.” — “I would stand in front of the door.”
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.
Stehen in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of stehen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, stehen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is stehe: “Ich stehe vor der Tür.” — “I stand in front of the door.”
The preterite: the past as a finished event
In the preterite, stehen describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is stand: “Er stand im Garten bei den Blumen.” — “He stood in the garden by the flowers.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, stehen reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle gestanden. The ich form is habe gestanden: “Ich habe jeden Morgen am Fenster gestanden.” — “I have stood at the window every morning.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, stehen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden stehen: “Wir werden vor der Tür stehen.” — “We will stand in front of the door.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, stehen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is ständest: “Du ständest im Garten bei den Blumen.” — “You would stand in the garden by the flowers.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In reported speech, stehen appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is stehe: “Er stehe jeden Morgen am Fenster.” — “He stands at the window every morning.” Read it as a quotation — someone said this, and the sentence reports it.
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich stehen vor der Tür.”
✓ Right: “Ich stehe vor der Tür.”
The infinitive stehen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form stehe.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du stehe vor der Tür.”
✓ Right: “Du stehst vor der Tür.”
stehe is the ich form. With du you need stehst. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich stehe vor der Tür gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe vor der Tür gestanden.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gestanden, not the present.
Using the indicative in reported speech
✗ Wrong: “Ich stehe vor der Tür.” (quoted as reported speech)
✓ Right: “Ich stehe vor der Tür.” (quoted as reported speech)
In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: stehe, not the indicative stehe.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich gestanden vor der Tür.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe vor der Tür gestanden.”
The Perfekt of stehen needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gestanden: the full ich form is habe gestanden.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on stehen. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of stehen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) stehst
- B) steht
- C) stehen
- D) stehe
What is the du form of stehen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) stehen
- B) stehst
- C) stehe
- D) steht
What is the er/sie/es form of stehen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) hast gestanden
- B) haben gestanden
- C) hat gestanden
- D) habe gestanden
What is the wir form of stehen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) stand
- B) standest
- C) standet
- D) standen
What is the du form of stehen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wirst stehen
- B) werde stehen
- C) wird stehen
- D) werden stehen
What is the ich form of stehen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) ständen
- B) ständet
- C) stände
- D) ständest
What is the er/sie/es form of stehen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) stehest
- B) stehen
- C) stehet
- D) stehe
What is the ich form of stehen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hattet gestanden
- B) hatte gestanden
- C) hattest gestanden
- D) hatten gestanden
What is the past participle of stehen?
- A) geblieben
- B) gelegen
- C) geheißen
- D) gestanden
What does stehen mean in English?
- A) to stay
- B) to lie
- C) to be called
- D) to stand
Answer key
- D) stehe — the ich form of stehen in the Present (Präsens) is stehe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) stehst — the du form of stehen in the Present (Präsens) is stehst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hat gestanden — the er/sie/es form of stehen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gestanden. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) standen — the wir form of stehen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is standen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) wirst stehen — the du form of stehen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst stehen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) stände — the ich form of stehen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is stände. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) stehe — the er/sie/es form of stehen in the Konjunktiv I is stehe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) hatte gestanden — the ich form of stehen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gestanden. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) gestanden — the past participle of stehen is gestanden. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to stand — stehen means “to stand” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does stehen mean in English?
stehen means “to stand”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is stehen regular or irregular?
stehen is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is stehend and the past participle is gestanden.
How do I practise stehen every day?
Say one sentence with stehen 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 stehe vor der Tür.”, “Ich habe vor der Tür gestanden.” and “Ich werde vor der Tür stehen.”. 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 stehen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of stehen — every tense of stehen in one place.
- Stehen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Stehen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Bleiben conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Liegen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Heißen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- 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 stehen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise stehen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise stehen with the interactive tool.