Treffen Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
How do you actually use treffen — “to meet” — 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 treffen. Start with the simplest sentence: “Ich treffe meine Freundin im Café.” — “I meet my friend in the café.”
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for treffen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Treffen in real sentences
Twelve sentences with treffen, 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 treffe meine Freundin im Café.” — “I meet my friend in the café.”
- “Du triffst meine Freundin im Café.” — “You meet my friend in the café.”
- “Er trifft meine Freundin im Café.” — “He meets my friend in the café.”
- “Ich traf meine Freundin im Café.” — “I met my friend in the café.”
- “Wir trafen meine Freundin im Café.” — “We met my friend in the café.”
- “Ich habe meine Freundin im Café getroffen.” — “I have met my friend in the café.”
- “Du hast meine Freundin im Café getroffen.” — “You have met my friend in the café.”
- “Ich hatte meine Freundin im Café getroffen.” — “I had met my friend in the café.”
- “Wir werden meine Freundin im Café treffen.” — “We will meet my friend in the café.”
- “Ich werde meine Freundin im Café getroffen haben.” — “I will have met my friend in the café.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass ich meine Freundin im Café treffe.” — “It is important that I meet my friend in the café.”
- “Ich träfe meine Freundin im Café.” — “I would meet my friend in the café if I could.”
- “Ich hätte meine Freundin im Café getroffen.” — “I would have met my friend in the café if I had been able to.”
- “Triff meine Freundin im Café!” — “Meet my friend in the café!”
A short dialogue with treffen
Anna and Ben talk about their plans. Every form of treffen in the dialogue comes from the verified tables — read it aloud, changing the person each time.
Anna: “Du triffst meine Freundin im Café?” — “You meet my friend in the café?”
Ben: “Ich treffe meine Freundin im Café.” — “I meet my friend in the café.”
Anna: “Du hast meine Freundin im Café getroffen?” — “You have met my friend in the café?”
Ben: “Ich habe meine Freundin im Café getroffen.” — “I have met my friend in the café.”
Anna: “Du wirst meine Freundin im Café treffen?” — “You will meet my friend in the café?”
Ben: “Ich werde meine Freundin im Café treffen.” — “I will meet my friend in the café.”
Anna: “Triff meine Freundin im Café!” — “Meet my friend in the café!”
Ben: “Ich treffe meine Freundin im Café.” — “I meet my friend in the café.”
Notice how the verb changes with the person and the tense while the meaning stays the same: treffe, triffst, habe getroffen, werde treffen. If you can follow this dialogue without looking at the tables, you know treffen well enough to use it.
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich treffen meine Freundin im Café.”
✓ Right: “Ich treffe meine Freundin im Café.”
The infinitive treffen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form treffe.
2. Confusing treffen with kennenlernen
✗ Wrong: “Ich kennenlernen meine Freundin im Café.” (using the wrong verb)
✓ Right: “Ich treffe meine Freundin im Café.”
treffen means “to meet”; kennenlernen means “to get to know, to meet”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Applying the regular pattern to treffen
✗ Wrong: “Ich habe meine Freundin im Café getrefft.” (a guessed regular participle)
✓ Right: “Ich habe meine Freundin im Café getroffen.”
treffen is irregular in present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Its past participle is getroffen, not the regular ge- + stem + -t form.
4. Using the indicative after a Konjunktiv I trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du meine Freundin im Café triffst.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du meine Freundin im Café treffest.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use treffest here, not the indicative triffst.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the ich form of treffen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) treffe
- B) triffst
- C) trefft
- D) treffen
What is the er/sie/es form of treffen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) trifft
- B) treffe
- C) treffen
- D) trefft
What is the du form of treffen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) trafst
- B) trafen
- C) traf
- D) traft
What is the wir form of treffen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) haben getroffen
- B) habe getroffen
- C) hast getroffen
- D) habt getroffen
What is the ich form of treffen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werden treffen
- B) werde treffen
- C) werdet treffen
- D) wirst treffen
What is the du form of treffen in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) träfe
- B) träfen
- C) träfest
- D) träfet
What is the ich form of treffen in the Conditional perfect?
- A) hättet getroffen
- B) hättest getroffen
- C) hätten getroffen
- D) hätte getroffen
What is the past participle of treffen?
- A) treffe
- B) traf
- C) treffend
- D) getroffen
What is the present participle of treffen?
- A) treffend
- B) werde treffen
- C) treffe
- D) getroffen
What does treffen mean in English?
- A) to get to know, to meet
- B) to come
- C) to meet
- D) to do
Answer key
- A) treffe — the ich form of treffen in the present tense is treffe.
- A) trifft — the er/sie/es form of treffen in the present tense is trifft.
- A) trafst — the du form of treffen in the preterite is trafst.
- A) haben getroffen — the wir form of treffen in the Perfekt is haben getroffen.
- B) werde treffen — the ich form of treffen in the Futur I is werde treffen.
- C) träfest — the du form of treffen in the Konjunktiv II is träfest.
- D) hätte getroffen — the ich form of treffen in the conditional perfect is hätte getroffen.
- D) getroffen — the past participle of treffen is getroffen; perfect tenses use haben + getroffen.
- A) treffend — the present participle of treffen is treffend.
- C) to meet — treffen means “to meet” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does treffen mean in English?
treffen means “to meet”. The examples above show it in everyday situations — for example, “Ich treffe meine Freundin im Café.” (“I meet my friend in the café.”).
Is treffen regular or irregular?
treffen is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The full tables are on the conjugation page.
How do I use treffen in the Perfekt?
Use haben + the past participle getroffen: “Ich habe meine Freundin im Café getroffen.” — “I have met my friend in the café.” The full Perfekt table is on the treffen in the Perfekt tense page.
Related pages
- treffen conjugation — the full conjugation tables for this verb in every tense.
- treffen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and uses for this verb in one tense.
- 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.
- Kennenlernen 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 treffen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise treffen with the interactive tool.
- Perfect Tenses Builder — practise the perfect tenses with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.