Trinken: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Trinken means “to drink”, 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 trinken, 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 trinken, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich trinke einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “I drink a coffee in the morning.”
- “Du trinkst Wasser nach dem Sport.” — “You drink water after sport.”
- “Ich habe Tee am Abend getrunken.” — “I have drunk tea in the evening.”
- “Er trank einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “He drank a coffee in the morning.”
- “Wir werden Wasser nach dem Sport trinken.” — “We will drink water after sport.”
- “Du hast Tee am Abend getrunken.” — “You have drunk tea in the evening.”
- “Ich tränke einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “I would drink a coffee in the morning.”
- “Er trinke Wasser nach dem Sport.” — “He drinks water after sport.”
- “Wir hatten Tee am Abend getrunken.” — “We had drunk tea in the evening.”
- “Er wird einen Kaffee am Morgen trinken.” — “He will drink a coffee in the morning.”
- “Sie trinken Wasser nach dem Sport.” — “They drink water after sport.”
- “Trink Tee am Abend!” — “Drink tea in the evening!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about a coffee in the morning. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how trinken changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of trinken below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Trinkst du einen Kaffee am Morgen?” — “You drink a coffee in the morning?” Jonas: “Ich trinke einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “I drink a coffee in the morning.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde Wasser nach dem Sport trinken.” — “I will drink water after sport.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe Tee am Abend getrunken.” — “I have drunk tea in the evening.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich tränke einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “I would drink a coffee in the morning.”
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.
Trinken in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of trinken that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, trinken describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is trinke: “Ich trinke einen Kaffee am Morgen.” — “I drink a coffee in the morning.”
The preterite: the past as a finished event
In the preterite, trinken describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is trank: “Er trank Wasser nach dem Sport.” — “He drank water after sport.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, trinken reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle getrunken. The ich form is habe getrunken: “Ich habe Tee am Abend getrunken.” — “I have drunk tea in the evening.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, trinken talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden trinken: “Wir werden einen Kaffee am Morgen trinken.” — “We will drink a coffee in the morning.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, trinken talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is tränkest: “Du tränkest Wasser nach dem Sport.” — “You would drink water after sport.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In reported speech, trinken appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is trinke: “Er trinke Tee am Abend.” — “He drinks tea in the evening.” 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 trinken einen Kaffee am Morgen.”
✓ Right: “Ich trinke einen Kaffee am Morgen.”
The infinitive trinken never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form trinke.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du trinke einen Kaffee am Morgen.”
✓ Right: “Du trinkst einen Kaffee am Morgen.”
trinke is the ich form. With du you need trinkst. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich trinke einen Kaffee am Morgen gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe einen Kaffee am Morgen getrunken.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe getrunken, not the present.
Using the indicative in reported speech
✗ Wrong: “Ich trinke einen Kaffee am Morgen.” (quoted as reported speech)
✓ Right: “Ich trinke einen Kaffee am Morgen.” (quoted as reported speech)
In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: trinke, not the indicative trinke.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich getrunken einen Kaffee am Morgen.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe einen Kaffee am Morgen getrunken.”
The Perfekt of trinken needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle getrunken: the full ich form is habe getrunken.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on trinken. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of trinken in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) trinkst
- B) trinkt
- C) trinken
- D) trinke
What is the du form of trinken in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) trinken
- B) trinkst
- C) trinke
- D) trinkt
What is the er/sie/es form of trinken in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) hat getrunken
- B) habe getrunken
- C) hast getrunken
- D) haben getrunken
What is the wir form of trinken in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) trankt
- B) tranken
- C) trank
- D) trankst
What is the du form of trinken in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wirst trinken
- B) werde trinken
- C) wird trinken
- D) werden trinken
What is the ich form of trinken in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) tränke
- B) tränkest
- C) tränken
- D) tränket
What is the er/sie/es form of trinken in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) trinkest
- B) trinken
- C) trinket
- D) trinke
What is the ich form of trinken in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hattest getrunken
- B) hatten getrunken
- C) hattet getrunken
- D) hatte getrunken
What is the past participle of trinken?
- A) angefangen
- B) getrunken
- C) geschlafen
- D) aufgestanden
What does trinken mean in English?
- A) to start
- B) to drink
- C) to sleep
- D) to get up
Answer key
- D) trinke — the ich form of trinken in the Present (Präsens) is trinke. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) trinkst — the du form of trinken in the Present (Präsens) is trinkst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) hat getrunken — the er/sie/es form of trinken in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat getrunken. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) tranken — the wir form of trinken in the Preterite (Präteritum) is tranken. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) wirst trinken — the du form of trinken in the Future (Futur I) is wirst trinken. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) tränke — the ich form of trinken in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is tränke. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) trinke — the er/sie/es form of trinken in the Konjunktiv I is trinke. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) hatte getrunken — the ich form of trinken in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte getrunken. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) getrunken — the past participle of trinken is getrunken. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- B) to drink — trinken means “to drink” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does trinken mean in English?
trinken means “to drink”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is trinken regular or irregular?
trinken is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is trinkend and the past participle is getrunken.
How do I practise trinken every day?
Say one sentence with trinken 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 trinke einen Kaffee am Morgen.”, “Ich habe einen Kaffee am Morgen getrunken.” and “Ich werde einen Kaffee am Morgen trinken.”. 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 trinken, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of trinken — every tense of trinken in one place.
- Trinken in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Trinken examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Schlafen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Aufstehen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Anfangen 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 trinken with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise trinken with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise trinken with the interactive tool.