The German verb lesen means "to read". Below are its 6 tenses as tables, with the irregular forms marked, 4 example sentences and answers to 3 common questions. Press play next to a present tense form or an example to hear it.
The present tense of lesen is ich lese, du liest, er/sie/es liest, wir lesen, ihr lest, sie/Sie lesen. It is irregular: 2 of its 6 present forms break the regular -en pattern. The tables below cover 6 tenses, from the present to the imperative. Its present participle is lesend and its past participle is gelesen.
Forms in orange break the regular -en pattern.
| ich | lese | |
|---|---|---|
| du | liest (irregular) | |
| er/ | liest (irregular) | |
| wir | lesen | |
| ihr | lest | |
| sie/ | lesen |
| ich | las (irregular) |
|---|---|
| du | lasest (irregular) |
| er/ | las (irregular) |
| wir | lasen (irregular) |
| ihr | last (irregular) |
| sie/ | lasen (irregular) |
| ich | habe gelesen (irregular) |
|---|---|
| du | hast gelesen (irregular) |
| er/ | hat gelesen (irregular) |
| wir | haben gelesen (irregular) |
| ihr | habt gelesen (irregular) |
| sie/ | haben gelesen (irregular) |
| ich | werde lesen |
|---|---|
| du | wirst lesen |
| er/ | wird lesen |
| wir | werden lesen |
| ihr | werdet lesen |
| sie/ | werden lesen |
| ich | läse (irregular) |
|---|---|
| du | läsest (irregular) |
| er/ | läse (irregular) |
| wir | läsen (irregular) |
| ihr | läset (irregular) |
| sie/ | läsen (irregular) |
| du | lies (irregular) |
|---|---|
| ihr | lest |
| Sie | lesen Sie |
Lesen is irregular. In the present, du liest and er/sie/es liest differ from ich lese, while the simple past uses las and the past participle is gelesen.
Lingo7 is an app for reading books in German with a translation under every sentence and audio, so the forms in these tables come back in context.
No, lesen is irregular. For example, its forms include du liest, ich las, and gelesen.
The perfect tense uses haben and the past participle gelesen. Examples include ich habe gelesen and sie haben gelesen.
The forms are ich las, du lasest, er las, wir lasen, ihr last, and sie lasen.