Tanzen Conjugation in German

tanzen means “to dance” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 73 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about dancing with my girlfriend, 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 tanzen — 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 tanze mit meiner Freundin jeden Tag.” — “I dance with my girlfriend every day.”

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: tanzen
  • English: to dance
  • Verb type: Regular
  • Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
  • Pattern: weak
  • Separable: no
  • Participle I: tanzend
  • Past participle (Partizip II): getanzt
  • Auxiliary: haben (all perfect tenses are formed with haben + the past participle)

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for tanzen, 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 tanzen in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.

Three things to remember about tanzen

  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 haben: the perfect is formed with haben in the present plus the past participle getanzt. 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 tanzend and Partizip II is getanzt: 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 tanzen. 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 tanze
du tanzt
er/sie/es tanzt
wir tanzen
ihr tanzt
sie/Sie tanzen

The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Ich tanze im Park jeden Tag.” — “I dance in the park every day.”

Preterite (Präteritum)

Person Form
ich tanzte
du tanztest
er/sie/es tanzte
wir tanzten
ihr tanztet
sie/Sie tanzten

The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. For example: “Du tanztest im Park gestern.” — “You danced in the park yesterday.”

Perfect (Perfekt)

Person Form
ich habe getanzt
du hast getanzt
er/sie/es hat getanzt
wir haben getanzt
ihr habt getanzt
sie/Sie haben getanzt

The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er hat im Park getanzt gestern.” — “He has danced in the park yesterday.”

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

Person Form
ich hatte getanzt
du hattest getanzt
er/sie/es hatte getanzt
wir hatten getanzt
ihr hattet getanzt
sie/Sie hatten getanzt

The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten im Park getanzt vor der Party.” — “We had danced in the park before the party.”

Future (Futur I)

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

The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde im Park tanzen morgen.” — “I will dance in the park tomorrow.”

Future perfect (Futur II)

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

The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst im Park getanzt haben bis morgen.” — “You will have danced in the park by tomorrow.”

Konjunktiv I

Person Form
ich tanze
du tanzest
er/sie/es tanze
wir tanzen
ihr tanzet
sie/Sie tanzen

Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er tanze im Park.” — “It is important that he dance in the park.”

Konjunktiv II

Person Form
ich tanzte
du tanztest
er/sie/es tanzte
wir tanzten
ihr tanztet
sie/Sie tanzten

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 tanzte im Park eines Tages.” — “I would dance in the park one day.”

Conditional perfect

Person Form
ich hätte getanzt
du hättest getanzt
er/sie/es hätte getanzt
wir hätten getanzt
ihr hättet getanzt
sie/Sie hätten getanzt

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte im Park getanzt gestern.” — “He would have danced in the park yesterday.”

Imperative

Person Form
du tanz
wir tanzen
ihr tanzt
sie tanzen

The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Tanz im Park!” — “Dance in the park!”

Present participle (Partizip I)

Form German
Present participle tanzend

The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle tanzend describes something that is dancing. The present-tense sentence “Ich tanze mit meiner Freundin jeden Tag.” — “I dance with my girlfriend every day.” shows the same verb in action.

Past participle (Partizip II)

Form German
Past participle getanzt

The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe mit meiner Freundin getanzt gestern.” — “I have danced with my girlfriend yesterday.”

Infinitive

Form German
Infinitive tanzen

The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive tanzen 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 mit meiner Freundin tanzen morgen.” — “I will dance with my girlfriend tomorrow.”

Example sentences

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

  1. “Ich tanze mit meiner Freundin jeden Tag.” — “I dance with my girlfriend every day.”
  2. “Du tanztest im Park gestern.” — “You danced in the park yesterday.”
  3. “Er hat auf der Party getanzt gestern.” — “He has danced at the party yesterday.”
  4. “Wir hatten mit meiner Freundin getanzt vor der Party.” — “We had danced with my girlfriend before the party.”
  5. “Ich werde im Park tanzen morgen.” — “I will dance in the park tomorrow.”
  6. “Du wirst auf der Party getanzt haben bis morgen.” — “You will have danced at the party by tomorrow.”
  7. “Es ist wichtig, dass er tanze mit meiner Freundin.” — “It is important that he dance with my girlfriend.”
  8. “Ich tanzte im Park eines Tages.” — “I would dance in the park one day.”
  9. “Er hätte auf der Party getanzt gestern.” — “He would have danced at the party yesterday.”
  10. “Tanz mit meiner Freundin!” — “Dance with my girlfriend!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich tanzen mit meiner Freundin.”

✓ Right: “Ich tanze mit meiner Freundin.”

The infinitive tanzen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form tanze.

2. Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Ich tanzen mit meiner Freundin.”

✓ Right: “Ich tanze mit meiner Freundin.”

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

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich tanze mit meiner Freundin gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe mit meiner Freundin getanzt gestern.”

The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe getanzt, not the present.

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich tanze mit meiner Freundin.”

✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich tanze mit meiner Freundin.”

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

5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich bin getanzt mit meiner Freundin.”

✓ Right: “habe getanzt mit meiner Freundin.”

The Perfekt of tanzen is formed with haben plus the past participle getanzt: the ich form is habe getanzt. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.

6. Using the preterite for a daily habit

✗ Wrong: “Ich tanzte mit meiner Freundin jeden Tag.”

✓ Right: “Ich tanze mit meiner Freundin jeden Tag.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) tanzen
    • B) tanzte
    • C) tanze
    • D) tanzt

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

    • A) tanzte
    • B) tanzten
    • C) tanztet
    • D) tanztest

  3. What is the er/sie/es form of tanzen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?

    • A) hast getanzt
    • B) haben getanzt
    • C) hat getanzt
    • D) habe getanzt

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

    • A) hatte getanzt
    • B) hattest getanzt
    • C) hattet getanzt
    • D) hatten getanzt

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

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

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

    • A) wird getanzt haben
    • B) werden getanzt haben
    • C) werde getanzt haben
    • D) wirst getanzt haben

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

    • A) tanzen
    • B) tanzet
    • C) tanze
    • D) tanzest

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

    • A) tanzten
    • B) tanztet
    • C) tanzte
    • D) tanztest

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

    • A) tanzend
    • B) singend
    • C) kochend
    • D) putzend

  10. What does tanzen mean in English?

  • A) to cook
  • B) to clean
  • C) to dance
  • D) to sing

Answer key

  1. C) tanze — the ich form of tanzen in the Present (Präsens) is tanze. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. D) tanztest — the du form of tanzen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is tanztest. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. C) hat getanzt — the er/sie/es form of tanzen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat getanzt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. D) hatten getanzt — the wir form of tanzen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatten getanzt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. D) wirst tanzen — the du form of tanzen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst tanzen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) werde getanzt haben — the ich form of tanzen in the Future perfect (Futur II) is werde getanzt haben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. C) tanze — the er/sie/es form of tanzen in the Konjunktiv I is tanze. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. C) tanzte — the ich form of tanzen in the Konjunktiv II is tanzte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. A) tanzend — the present participle (Partizip I) of tanzen is tanzend. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. C) to dance — tanzen means “to dance” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does tanzen mean in English?

tanzen means “to dance”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is tanzen regular or irregular?

tanzen is regular: it follows the ordinary weak pattern in every tense. Partizip I is tanzend and Partizip II is getanzt.

What are the participles of tanzen?

Partizip I is tanzend — use it as an adjective. Partizip II is getanzt — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe getanzt.

Which auxiliary does tanzen take in the Perfekt?

tanzen takes haben in the Perfekt: the ich form is habe getanzt. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with haben plus the past participle getanzt.

How do I say “I dance” in German?

Say “Ich tanze mit meiner Freundin jeden Tag.” — “I dance with my girlfriend every day.” The ich form of the present is tanze, and it is the form you will use most often.

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