When to use 'haben' and 'sein'
Now you need to know when you use these two auxiliary verbs.
You use haben with A verb that takes one or more objects, eg ich habe ein Buch gelesen 鈥 I read a book. Here, the book is the object of the verb to read. and sein with Intransitive verbs do not have objects, eg ich bin gegangen 鈥 I went. There is no object here as you cannot 'go something'..
Intransitive verbs
All verbs of motion are intransitive verbs. This means that the verb must describe a movement towards something, or from A to B.
Verbs of motion include verbs like laufen (to run), springen (to jump), schwimmen (to swim) or fallen (to fall).
Question
Look at these pictures and decide whether you should use haben or sein with them.
- laufen 鈥 to run
- schwimmen 鈥 to swim
- lesen 鈥 to read
- backen 鈥 to bake
- schlafen 鈥 to sleep
- fahren 鈥 to travel (in a car)
- malen 鈥 to paint
- spielen 鈥 to play
- laufen 鈥 to run (uses sein): ich bin gelaufen - I ran
- schwimmen 鈥 to swim (uses sein): ich bin geschwommen - I swam
- lesen 鈥 to read (uses haben): ich habe gelesen - I read
- backen 鈥 to bake (uses haben): ich habe gebacken - I baked
- schlafen 鈥 to sleep (uses haben): ich habe geschlafen - I slept
- fahren 鈥 to travel (in a car) (uses sein): ich bin gefahren - I travelled/ I drove
- malen 鈥 to paint (uses haben): ich habe gemalt - I painted
- spielen 鈥 to play (uses haben): ich habe gespielt - I played
sein
| Infinitive | German | English |
| laufen | ich bin gelaufen | I ran |
| schwimmen | ich bin geschwommen | I swam |
| fahren | ich bin gefahren | I travelled |
| Infinitive | laufen |
|---|---|
| German | ich bin gelaufen |
| English | I ran |
| Infinitive | schwimmen |
|---|---|
| German | ich bin geschwommen |
| English | I swam |
| Infinitive | fahren |
|---|---|
| German | ich bin gefahren |
| English | I travelled |
haben
| Infinitive | German | English |
| lesen | ich habe gelesen | I read |
| backen | ich habe gebacken | I baked |
| schlafen | ich habe geschlafen | I slept |
| malen | ich habe gemalt | I painted |
| spielen | ich habe gespielt | I played |
| Infinitive | lesen |
|---|---|
| German | ich habe gelesen |
| English | I read |
| Infinitive | backen |
|---|---|
| German | ich habe gebacken |
| English | I baked |
| Infinitive | schlafen |
|---|---|
| German | ich habe geschlafen |
| English | I slept |
| Infinitive | malen |
|---|---|
| German | ich habe gemalt |
| English | I painted |
| Infinitive | spielen |
|---|---|
| German | ich habe gespielt |
| English | I played |
You can use these following ideas to help you remember when to use haben and when to use sein.
Boats stay in the harbour (habe). This means that they do not move. They may bob around inside the harbour, but they do not go anywhere or move towards anything. So, habe (the ich form of haben) is for no movement towards something.
Rubbish must go into the bin (bin). It must move into the bin. So, bin (the ich form of sein) is for movement.