Wohnen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Wohnen means “to live”, 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 wohnen, 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 wohnen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich wohne in Berlin.” — “I live in Berlin.”
- “Du wohnst seit zehn Jahren hier.” — “You live here for ten years.”
- “Ich habe mit meiner Familie in einem Haus gewohnt.” — “I have lived with my family in a house.”
- “Er wohnte in Berlin.” — “He lived in Berlin.”
- “Wir werden seit zehn Jahren hier wohnen.” — “We will live here for ten years.”
- “Du hast mit meiner Familie in einem Haus gewohnt.” — “You have lived with my family in a house.”
- “Ich wohnte in Berlin.” — “I would live in Berlin.”
- “Er wohne seit zehn Jahren hier.” — “He lives here for ten years.”
- “Wir hatten mit meiner Familie in einem Haus gewohnt.” — “We had lived with my family in a house.”
- “Er wird in Berlin wohnen.” — “He will live in Berlin.”
- “Sie wohnen seit zehn Jahren hier.” — “They live here for ten years.”
- “Wohn mit meiner Familie in einem Haus!” — “Live with my family in a house!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about in Berlin. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how wohnen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of wohnen below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Wohnst du in Berlin?” — “You live in Berlin?” Jonas: “Ich wohne in Berlin.” — “I live in Berlin.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde seit zehn Jahren hier wohnen.” — “I will live here for ten years.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe mit meiner Familie in einem Haus gewohnt.” — “I have lived with my family in a house.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich wohnte in Berlin.” — “I would live in Berlin.”
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.
Wohnen in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of wohnen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, wohnen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is wohne: “Ich wohne in Berlin.” — “I live in Berlin.”
The preterite: the past as a finished event
In the preterite, wohnen describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is wohnte: “Er wohnte seit zehn Jahren hier.” — “He lived here for ten years.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, wohnen reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle gewohnt. The ich form is habe gewohnt: “Ich habe mit meiner Familie in einem Haus gewohnt.” — “I have lived with my family in a house.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, wohnen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden wohnen: “Wir werden in Berlin wohnen.” — “We will live in Berlin.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, wohnen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is wohntest: “Du wohntest seit zehn Jahren hier.” — “You would live here for ten years.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In reported speech, wohnen appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is wohne: “Er wohne mit meiner Familie in einem Haus.” — “He lives with my family in a house.” 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 wohnen in Berlin.”
✓ Right: “Ich wohne in Berlin.”
The infinitive wohnen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form wohne.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du wohne in Berlin.”
✓ Right: “Du wohnst in Berlin.”
wohne is the ich form. With du you need wohnst. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich wohne in Berlin gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe in Berlin gewohnt.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gewohnt, not the present.
Using the indicative in reported speech
✗ Wrong: “Ich wohne in Berlin.” (quoted as reported speech)
✓ Right: “Ich wohne in Berlin.” (quoted as reported speech)
In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: wohne, not the indicative wohne.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich gewohnt in Berlin.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe in Berlin gewohnt.”
The Perfekt of wohnen needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gewohnt: the full ich form is habe gewohnt.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on wohnen. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of wohnen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) wohnst
- B) wohnt
- C) wohnen
- D) wohne
What is the du form of wohnen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) wohnen
- B) wohnst
- C) wohne
- D) wohnt
What is the er/sie/es form of wohnen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) habe gewohnt
- B) hast gewohnt
- C) haben gewohnt
- D) hat gewohnt
What is the wir form of wohnen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) wohntet
- B) wohnten
- C) wohnte
- D) wohntest
What is the du form of wohnen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wirst wohnen
- B) werde wohnen
- C) wird wohnen
- D) werden wohnen
What is the ich form of wohnen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) wohntest
- B) wohnten
- C) wohntet
- D) wohnte
What is the er/sie/es form of wohnen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) wohnest
- B) wohnen
- C) wohnet
- D) wohne
What is the ich form of wohnen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatten gewohnt
- B) hattet gewohnt
- C) hatte gewohnt
- D) hattest gewohnt
What is the past participle of wohnen?
- A) gewohnt
- B) gegessen
- C) getrunken
- D) geschlafen
What does wohnen mean in English?
- A) to sleep
- B) to live
- C) to eat
- D) to drink
Answer key
- D) wohne — the ich form of wohnen in the Present (Präsens) is wohne. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) wohnst — the du form of wohnen in the Present (Präsens) is wohnst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) hat gewohnt — the er/sie/es form of wohnen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gewohnt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) wohnten — the wir form of wohnen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is wohnten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) wirst wohnen — the du form of wohnen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst wohnen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) wohnte — the ich form of wohnen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is wohnte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) wohne — the er/sie/es form of wohnen in the Konjunktiv I is wohne. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hatte gewohnt — the ich form of wohnen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gewohnt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) gewohnt — the past participle of wohnen is gewohnt. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- B) to live — wohnen means “to live” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does wohnen mean in English?
wohnen means “to live”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is wohnen regular or irregular?
wohnen is regular in every tense. The present participle is wohnend and the past participle is gewohnt.
How do I practise wohnen every day?
Say one sentence with wohnen 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 wohne in Berlin.”, “Ich habe in Berlin gewohnt.” and “Ich werde in Berlin wohnen.”. 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 wohnen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of wohnen — every tense of wohnen in one place.
- Wohnen in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Wohnen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Essen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Trinken conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Schlafen 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 wohnen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise wohnen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise wohnen with the interactive tool.