Vergessen Conjugation in German
vergessen means “to forget” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 55 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You use it whenever you talk about forgetting my keys, 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 vergessen — 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 vergesse meine Schlüssel jeden Tag.” — “I forget my keys every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: vergessen
- English: to forget
- Verb type: Irregular
- Irregular in: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative
- Pattern: strong
- Separable: no
- Participle I: vergessend
- Past participle (Partizip II): vergessen
- 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 vergessen, 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 vergessen in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about vergessen
- It is irregular in 4 tense(s): present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Learn those forms as a set rather than guessing them from the infinitive, because the regular pattern will not produce them.
- The perfect tenses use haben: the perfect is formed with haben in the present plus the past participle vergessen. 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.
- Partizip I is vergessend and Partizip II is vergessen: 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 vergessen. 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 | vergesse |
| du | vergisst |
| er/sie/es | vergisst |
| wir | vergessen |
| ihr | vergesst |
| sie/Sie | vergessen |
The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With vergessen 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 vergesse den Termin jeden Tag.” — “I forget the appointment every day.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | vergaß |
| du | vergaßt |
| er/sie/es | vergaß |
| wir | vergaßen |
| ihr | vergaßt |
| sie/Sie | vergaßen |
The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. With vergessen 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 vergaßt den Termin gestern.” — “You forgot the appointment yesterday.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe vergessen |
| du | hast vergessen |
| er/sie/es | hat vergessen |
| wir | haben vergessen |
| ihr | habt vergessen |
| sie/Sie | haben vergessen |
The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. For example: “Er hat den Termin vergessen gestern.” — “He has forgotten the appointment yesterday.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte vergessen |
| du | hattest vergessen |
| er/sie/es | hatte vergessen |
| wir | hatten vergessen |
| ihr | hattet vergessen |
| sie/Sie | hatten vergessen |
The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten den Termin vergessen vor der Party.” — “We had forgotten the appointment before the party.”
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde vergessen |
| du | wirst vergessen |
| er/sie/es | wird vergessen |
| wir | werden vergessen |
| ihr | werdet vergessen |
| sie/Sie | werden vergessen |
The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Ich werde den Termin vergessen morgen.” — “I will forget the appointment tomorrow.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde vergessen haben |
| du | wirst vergessen haben |
| er/sie/es | wird vergessen haben |
| wir | werden vergessen haben |
| ihr | werdet vergessen haben |
| sie/Sie | werden vergessen haben |
The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Du wirst den Termin vergessen haben bis morgen.” — “You will have forgotten the appointment by tomorrow.”
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | vergesse |
| du | vergessest |
| er/sie/es | vergesse |
| wir | vergessen |
| ihr | vergesset |
| sie/Sie | vergessen |
Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass er vergesse den Termin.” — “It is important that he forget the appointment.”
Konjunktiv II
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | vergäße |
| du | vergäßest |
| er/sie/es | vergäße |
| wir | vergäßen |
| ihr | vergäßet |
| sie/Sie | vergäßen |
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 vergäße den Termin eines Tages.” — “I would forget the appointment one day.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hätte vergessen |
| du | hättest vergessen |
| er/sie/es | hätte vergessen |
| wir | hätten vergessen |
| ihr | hättet vergessen |
| sie/Sie | hätten vergessen |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte den Termin vergessen gestern.” — “He would have forgotten the appointment yesterday.”
Imperative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | vergiss |
| wir | vergessen |
| ihr | vergesst |
| sie | vergessen |
The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. With vergessen 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: “Vergiss den Termin!” — “Forget the appointment!”
Present participle (Partizip I)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle | vergessend |
The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective and for describing an action in progress. For example, the participle vergessend describes something that is forgetting. The present-tense sentence “Ich vergesse meine Schlüssel jeden Tag.” — “I forget my keys every day.” shows the same verb in action.
Past participle (Partizip II)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Past participle | vergessen |
The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe meine Schlüssel vergessen gestern.” — “I have forgotten my keys yesterday.”
Infinitive
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | vergessen |
The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and in infinitive constructions. The infinitive vergessen 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 meine Schlüssel vergessen morgen.” — “I will forget my keys tomorrow.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with vergessen, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich vergesse meine Schlüssel jeden Tag.” — “I forget my keys every day.”
- “Du vergaßt den Termin gestern.” — “You forgot the appointment yesterday.”
- “Er hat das Buch zu Hause vergessen gestern.” — “He has forgotten the book at home yesterday.”
- “Wir hatten meine Schlüssel vergessen vor der Party.” — “We had forgotten my keys before the party.”
- “Ich werde den Termin vergessen morgen.” — “I will forget the appointment tomorrow.”
- “Du wirst das Buch zu Hause vergessen haben bis morgen.” — “You will have forgotten the book at home by tomorrow.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass er vergesse meine Schlüssel.” — “It is important that he forget my keys.”
- “Ich vergäße den Termin eines Tages.” — “I would forget the appointment one day.”
- “Er hätte das Buch zu Hause vergessen gestern.” — “He would have forgotten the book at home yesterday.”
- “Vergiss meine Schlüssel!” — “Forget my keys!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich vergessen meine Schlüssel.”
✓ Right: “Ich vergesse meine Schlüssel.”
The infinitive vergessen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form vergesse.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Ich vergessen meine Schlüssel.”
✓ Right: “Ich vergesse meine Schlüssel.”
vergessen is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with vergesse.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich vergesse meine Schlüssel gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe meine Schlüssel vergessen gestern.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe vergessen, not the present.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich vergesse meine Schlüssel.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich vergesse meine Schlüssel.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use vergesse here, not the indicative vergesse.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich bin vergessen meine Schlüssel.”
✓ Right: “habe vergessen meine Schlüssel.”
The Perfekt of vergessen is formed with haben plus the past participle vergessen: the ich form is habe vergessen. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Using the preterite for a daily habit
✗ Wrong: “Ich vergaß meine Schlüssel jeden Tag.”
✓ Right: “Ich vergesse meine Schlüssel jeden Tag.”
The preterite vergaß describes a past action. For something you do every day, use the present vergesse.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on vergessen. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of vergessen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) vergesse
- B) vergisst
- C) vergessen
- D) vergesst
What is the du form of vergessen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) vergaßt
- B) vergaß
- C) vergaßen
- D) vergisst
What is the er/sie/es form of vergessen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) haben vergessen
- B) hat vergessen
- C) habe vergessen
- D) hast vergessen
What is the wir form of vergessen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hattest vergessen
- B) hattet vergessen
- C) hatten vergessen
- D) hatte vergessen
What is the du form of vergessen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werden vergessen
- B) wirst vergessen
- C) werde vergessen
- D) wird vergessen
What is the ich form of vergessen in the Future perfect (Futur II)?
- A) werden vergessen haben
- B) werde vergessen haben
- C) wirst vergessen haben
- D) wird vergessen haben
What is the er/sie/es form of vergessen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) vergesse
- B) vergessest
- C) vergessen
- D) vergesset
What is the ich form of vergessen in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) vergäße
- B) vergäßest
- C) vergäßen
- D) vergäßet
What is the present participle (Partizip I) of vergessen?
- A) hoffend
- B) wünschend
- C) vergessend
- D) erinnernd
What does vergessen mean in English?
- A) to hope
- B) to wish
- C) to forget
- D) to remember
Answer key
- A) vergesse — the ich form of vergessen in the Present (Präsens) is vergesse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) vergaßt — the du form of vergessen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is vergaßt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) hat vergessen — the er/sie/es form of vergessen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat vergessen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hatten vergessen — the wir form of vergessen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatten vergessen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) wirst vergessen — the du form of vergessen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst vergessen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) werde vergessen haben — the ich form of vergessen in the Future perfect (Futur II) is werde vergessen haben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) vergesse — the er/sie/es form of vergessen in the Konjunktiv I is vergesse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) vergäße — the ich form of vergessen in the Konjunktiv II is vergäße. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) vergessend — the present participle (Partizip I) of vergessen is vergessend. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to forget — vergessen means “to forget” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does vergessen mean in English?
vergessen means “to forget”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is vergessen regular or irregular?
vergessen is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Partizip I is vergessend and Partizip II is vergessen.
What are the participles of vergessen?
Partizip I is vergessend — use it as an adjective. Partizip II is vergessen — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe vergessen.
Which auxiliary does vergessen take in the Perfekt?
vergessen takes haben in the Perfekt: the ich form is habe vergessen. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with haben plus the past participle vergessen.
How do I say “I forget” in German?
Say “Ich vergesse meine Schlüssel jeden Tag.” — “I forget my keys every day.” The ich form of the present is vergesse, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of vergessen — every tense of vergessen in one place.
- Vergessen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Vergessen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Erinnern conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Hoffen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Wünschen 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 Conjugator — practise vergessen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise vergessen with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise vergessen with the interactive tool.