Warten: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Warten means “to wait”, 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 warten, 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 warten, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich warte auf den Bus jeden Tag.” — “I wait for the bus every day.”
- “Du wartest auf meine Freundin jeden Tag.” — “You wait for my girlfriend every day.”
- “Ich habe auf den Zug gewartet gestern.” — “I have waited for the train yesterday.”
- “Er wartete auf den Bus gestern.” — “He waited for the bus yesterday.”
- “Wir werden auf meine Freundin warten morgen.” — “We will wait for my girlfriend tomorrow.”
- “Du hast auf den Zug gewartet gestern.” — “You have waited for the train yesterday.”
- “Ich wartete auf den Bus eines Tages.” — “I would wait for the bus one day.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass er warte auf meine Freundin.” — “It is important that he wait for my girlfriend.”
- “Wir hatten auf den Zug gewartet vor der Party.” — “We had waited for the train before the party.”
- “Er wird auf den Bus warten morgen.” — “He will wait for the bus tomorrow.”
- “Sie warten auf meine Freundin jeden Tag.” — “They wait for my girlfriend every day.”
- “Warte auf den Zug!” — “Wait for the train!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about for the bus. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how warten changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of warten below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Du wartest auf den Bus jeden Tag.” — “You wait for the bus every day.” Jonas: “Ich warte auf den Bus jeden Tag.” — “I wait for the bus every day.” Lena: “Du wirst auf meine Freundin warten morgen.” — “You will wait for my girlfriend tomorrow.” Jonas: “Ich werde auf meine Freundin warten morgen.” — “I will wait for my girlfriend tomorrow.” Lena: “Du hast auf den Zug gewartet gestern.” — “You have waited for the train yesterday.” Jonas: “Ich habe auf den Zug gewartet gestern.” — “I have waited for the train yesterday.” Lena: “Du wartetest auf den Bus eines Tages.” — “You would wait for the bus one day.” Jonas: “Ich wartete auf den Bus eines Tages.” — “I would wait for the bus one day.”
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.
Warten in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of warten that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, warten describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is warte: “Ich warte auf den Bus jeden Tag.” — “I wait for the bus every day.”
The preterite: the past in stories
In the preterite, warten describes a completed past action, mostly in writing and stories. The er form is wartete: “Er wartete auf meine Freundin gestern.” — “He waited for my girlfriend yesterday.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, warten reports one finished action, built with haben plus the participle gewartet. The ich form is habe gewartet: “Ich habe auf den Zug gewartet gestern.” — “I have waited for the train yesterday.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, warten talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden warten: “Wir werden auf den Bus warten morgen.” — “We will wait for the bus tomorrow.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, warten talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the conditional, and the periphrastic alternative with würde plus the infinitive expresses the same meaning. The du form is wartetest: “Du wartetest auf meine Freundin eines Tages.” — “You would wait for my girlfriend one day.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In Konjunktiv I, warten appears in reported speech, after triggers such as es ist wichtig, dass. The form is warte, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich warte auf den Zug.” — “It is important that I wait for the train.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich warten auf den Bus.”
✓ Right: “Ich warte auf den Bus.”
The infinitive warten never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form warte.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du warte auf den Bus.”
✓ Right: “Du wartest auf den Bus.”
warte is the ich form. With du you need wartest. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich warte auf den Bus gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe auf den Bus gewartet gestern.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gewartet, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du wartest auf meine Freundin.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du wartest auf meine Freundin.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I: wartest, not the indicative wartest.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich gewartet auf den Bus.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe auf den Bus gewartet.”
The Perfekt of warten needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gewartet: the full ich form is habe gewartet.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on warten. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of warten in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) warten
- B) warte
- C) wartest
- D) wartet
What is the du form of warten in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) wartet
- B) warten
- C) wartest
- D) warte
What is the er/sie/es form of warten in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) hat gewartet
- B) habe gewartet
- C) hast gewartet
- D) haben gewartet
What is the wir form of warten in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) wartetest
- B) wartetet
- C) warteten
- D) wartete
What is the du form of warten in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wird warten
- B) werden warten
- C) wirst warten
- D) werde warten
What is the ich form of warten in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) wartete
- B) wartetest
- C) warteten
- D) wartetet
What is the er/sie/es form of warten in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) wartet
- B) warte
- C) wartest
- D) warten
What is the ich form of warten in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hattest gewartet
- B) hatten gewartet
- C) hattet gewartet
- D) hatte gewartet
What is the past participle (Partizip II) of warten?
- A) eingestiegen
- B) gewartet
- C) angekommen
- D) abgefahren
What does warten mean in English?
- A) to wait
- B) to arrive
- C) to depart
- D) to get in
Answer key
- B) warte — the ich form of warten in the Present (Präsens) is warte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) wartest — the du form of warten in the Present (Präsens) is wartest. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) hat gewartet — the er/sie/es form of warten in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gewartet. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) warteten — the wir form of warten in the Preterite (Präteritum) is warteten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) wirst warten — the du form of warten in the Future (Futur I) is wirst warten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) wartete — the ich form of warten in the Konjunktiv II is wartete. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) warte — the er/sie/es form of warten in the Konjunktiv I is warte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) hatte gewartet — the ich form of warten in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gewartet. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) gewartet — the past participle of warten is gewartet. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- A) to wait — warten means “to wait” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does warten mean in English?
warten means “to wait”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is warten regular or irregular?
warten is regular in every tense. Partizip I is wartend and Partizip II is gewartet.
How do I practise warten every day?
Say one sentence with warten 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 warte auf den Bus jeden Tag.”, “Ich habe auf den Bus gewartet gestern.” and “Ich werde auf den Bus warten morgen.”. 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 warten, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of warten — every tense of warten in one place.
- Warten in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Warten examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Ankommen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Abfahren conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Einsteigen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- 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 warten with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise warten with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise warten with the interactive tool.