“To have, or not to have” – “haben” in German
One of the most critical verbs in German is “to have.” Therefore, it is one of the first words you might learn in your German classes. In this article, you will learn how to conjugate the essential verb “haben” in German and how to use it in your daily speaking.
“Haben” as a main verb
In German, the verb “haben” (to have) almost has the same role as in English. It offers you the following possibilities:
You can use “haben” as the main verb to express that somebody possesses or has something. Besides, in this sense, “haben” will always be followed by an Accusative object – you can learn that by heart and make your life a little easier ;).
haben + noun = Ich habe ein Auto (I have a car.)
Wir haben eine Familie. (We have a family.)
Recommended study materials on the topic:
A-Grammar: Practice German grammar German (incl. answers)
German self-study book for A1-B1 (incl. answers)
Basic grammar knowledge of German (incl. answers)
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“Haben” as auxiliary verb
Another possibility to use “haben” in German is its use as an auxiliary verb. This means that we use it to build another Grammar structure. As we also do in English, we can use it to form a sentence in Perfect tense:
Ich habe Hausaufgaben gemacht. (I have done homework.)
The conjugation of “haben”
1. “Haben” in the present tense (Präsens)
However, this article will focus on “haben” as the main verb. As you might remember from English, also the verb “to have” is irregular as we do say “she has” instead of “she have”.
The same applies to German; therefore, we need to conjugate the verb “haben” as follows and not regarding the general rules of German verb conjugating.
ich habe → I have
du hast → you have
er hat → he has
sie hat → she has
es hat → it has
wir haben → we have
ihr habt → you have
sie haben → they have
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2. “Haben” in simple past (Präteritum)
ich hatte → I had
du hattest → you had
er hatte → he had
sie hatte → she had
es hatte → it had
wir hatten → we had
ihr hattet → you had
sie hatten → they had
3. “Haben” in present perfect (Perfekt)
ich habe gehabt → I have had
du hast gehabt → you have had
er hat gehabt → he has had
sie hat gehabt → she has had
es hat gehabt → it has had
wir haben gehabt → we have had
ihr habt gehabt → you have had
sie haben gehabt → they have had
Small Talk
Now as you know how to use this verb, you can introduce and talk about yourself using it. Also, pay attention that “haben” is always followed by “Akkusativ” which means that you need to change “der” to “den” and “ein” (for “der”) to “einen”.
For instance:
Ich habe Kinder. → I have children.
Ich habe einen Sohn / eine Tochter. → I have a son / a daughter.
Ich habe einen Mann / eine Frau. → I have a husband / a wife.
Ich habe eine Familie. → I have a family.
Ich habe Arbeit. → I have a job.
Ich habe viele Hobbys. → I have many hobbies.
Ich habe eine neue Wohnung. → I have a new flat.
Ich habe ein rotes Auto. → I have a red car.
Ich habe keine Ahnung. → I don’t have a clue.
Conclusion
Now you should be able to use the verb “haben” daily. Since this is an essential verb, which you will need to use all the time, do yourself a favor and study it properly so you will not stumble over other problems later in your German studies.
Bis bald!
Steffie
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