to have (possess)
Ownership, relationships, and features. Takes an accusative object.
Ich habe einen Hund.
I have a dog.
Hast du Zeit?
Do you have time?
#7 · Verb
haben
In German, haben means “to have (possess)”. It’s the #7 most frequently used German word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
The second workhorse verb, "to have". It means possession, but its biggest job is grammatical: haben is the auxiliary that forms the Perfekt (spoken past) of most German verbs — ich habe gemacht, gesehen, gesagt.
neutralto have (as Perfekt auxiliary)
The default auxiliary for the spoken past of most verbs (all but motion/change verbs, which take sein).
Ich habe das gesehen.
I saw that.
Was hast du gesagt?
What did you say?
to feel / be (in fixed expressions)
Many states English expresses with "to be" use haben in German.
Ich habe Hunger.
I am hungry (lit. I have hunger).
Sie hat Angst.
She is afraid.
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken German. The top 4 forms cover about 85% of everyday use — learn these first.
haben27%
hat25%
habe22%
hast11%
Show 6 more forms
hatte5%
hätte5%
hatten2%
hätten2%
habt1%
gehabt<1%
Conjugation
- Infinitive
- haben
- Present (er/sie/es)
- hat
- Präteritum
- hatte
- Partizip II
- gehabt
- Perfekt auxiliary
- haben
- Verb class
- irregular
- Separable
- No
- Reflexive
- No
- Governs case
- accusative
| Tense | ich | du | er/sie/es | wir | ihr | sie/Sie |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Präsens | habe | hast | hat | haben | habt | haben |
| Präteritum | hatte | hattest | hatte | hatten | hattet | hatten |
| Perfekt | habe gehabt | hast gehabt | hat gehabt | haben gehabt | habt gehabt | haben gehabt |
| Konjunktiv II | hätte | hättest | hätte | hätten | hättet | hätten |
| Imperativ | - | hab | - | haben wir | habt | haben Sie |
- haben is the default Perfekt auxiliary; only motion/change verbs use sein.
- German uses haben where English uses "be" for states: Hunger/Durst/Angst haben.
- hätte + gern is the standard polite way to order or request something.
Examples
Ich habe eine Frage.
I have a question.
habe - present — accusative object (eine Frage)
Wir haben den Film gesehen.
We saw the film.
haben gesehen - Perfekt with haben (the default auxiliary)
Früher hatte ich ein Auto.
I used to have a car.
hatte - Präteritum — haben is common in the simple past even in speech
Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee.
I would like a coffee.
hätte - Konjunktiv II — the polite "I would like"
Word family
| gehabt | had | past participle |
|---|---|---|
| die Habe | belongings, possessions (formal) | noun |
| das Guthaben | credit balance (Gut + Haben) | compound noun |
Memory hook
The tricky present cells drop the -b-: du HAST, er HAT (not "habst/habt"). Konjunktiv II "hätte" is the everyday "would have / would like".
du and er drop the -b-: "du hast", "er hat" — a very common beginner error is "du habst".