German “sein” in the Present Tense

In Brief

The German verb sein means “to be” and is highly irregular: ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist, wir sind, ihr seid, sie/Sie sind. Use it to identify or describe someone or something, state a location, and form many everyday questions and expressions. The forms must be learned individually; there is no single regular stem to which you can simply add present-tense endings.

Overview

Sein is one of the most important verbs in German. You need it to introduce yourself, describe people and things, say where someone is, and ask basic questions: Ich bin Alex (“I’m Alex”), Das ist gut (“That is good”), and Wo bist du? (“Where are you?”). It is introduced at A1, but it remains essential at every level.

A verb changes form according to its subject (the person or thing the sentence is about). English has three present forms—“am,” “is,” and “are”—while German has five distinct forms: bin, bist, ist, sind, and seid. This makes the subject especially important when choosing the correct form.

The infinitive (the basic dictionary form of a verb) is sein. Because its present-tense forms look quite different from the infinitive, sein is called an irregular verb. Do not try to derive every form from sein: learn the full pattern as one compact set.

How It Works

The complete present-tense conjugation

Person	German form	English equivalent
ich	bin	I am
du	bist	you are (informal singular)
er / sie / es	ist	he / she / it is
wir	sind	we are
ihr	seid	you are (informal plural)
sie	sind	they are
Sie	sind	you are (formal, singular or plural)

There are two details worth noticing immediately:

• sie sind can mean “they are,” while Sie sind means formal “you are.” The capital letter distinguishes formal Sie.
• seid belongs only with ihr. It sounds similar to seit (“since” or “for” with a starting point), but the two words are not interchangeable.

Basic statement pattern

In a simple statement, the conjugated verb normally occupies the second position. A “position” can contain one word or a whole phrase.

Subject + form of sein + complement

A complement is information that completes the idea after sein: an identity, description, location, or other fact.

• Ich bin müde. — I am tired.
• Mara ist Ärztin. — Mara is a doctor.
• Die Schlüssel sind auf dem Tisch. — The keys are on the table.

Another element may come first, but sein still remains second:

• Heute bin ich zu Hause. — Today I am at home.
• In Berlin ist das Wetter schön. — In Berlin the weather is nice.

English often contracts “I am” to “I’m” and “we are” to “we’re.” Standard written German does not have equivalent contractions for ich bin or wir sind. Say and write both words.

What can follow sein?

Identity and classification

Use sein to say who or what someone or something is:

• Ich bin Student. — I am a student.
• Das ist meine Schwester. — That is my sister.
• Berlin ist die Hauptstadt Deutschlands. — Berlin is the capital of Germany.

After sein, professions, nationalities, religions, and similar roles often appear without an article when you are simply assigning someone to a category:

• Sie ist Ingenieurin. — She is an engineer.
• Er ist Deutscher. — He is German / a German man.

An article becomes natural when the noun is modified or made specific: Sie ist eine erfahrene Ingenieurin (“She is an experienced engineer”).

Description with an adjective

An adjective is a describing word such as “tired,” “friendly,” or “expensive.” After sein, a German adjective is predicative—it describes the subject through the verb—and it has no adjective ending:

• Du bist nett. — You are nice.
• Das Buch ist interessant. — The book is interesting.
• Die Häuser sind alt. — The houses are old.

The form remains nett, interessant, or alt regardless of gender or number. This is simpler than adjectives placed directly before nouns, which take endings.

Location and presence

Use sein to locate people and things:

• Wir sind in Hamburg. — We are in Hamburg.
• Mein Handy ist hier. — My phone is here.
• Die Kinder sind draußen. — The children are outside.

German commonly says zu Hause for “at home”: Ich bin zu Hause. The single word Zuhause is generally a noun meaning “home”: Das ist mein Zuhause.

Origin, condition, time, and date

Sein also appears in several basic kinds of statement:

• Ich bin aus Kanada. — I am from Canada.
• Wir sind bereit. — We are ready.
• Es ist zehn Uhr. — It is ten o’clock.
• Heute ist Montag. — Today is Monday.
• Es ist kalt. — It is cold.

German uses the impersonal subject es in weather and time expressions much as English uses “it.”

Questions with sein

For a yes-or-no question, put the conjugated form first:

Form of sein + subject + rest?

• Bist du müde? — Are you tired?
• Ist das richtig? — Is that correct?
• Sind Sie Frau Berger? — Are you Ms Berger?

With a question word, the question word comes first and the verb second:

• Wo bist du? — Where are you?
• Wer ist das? — Who is that?
• Wie alt seid ihr? — How old are you all?
• Warum sind die Geschäfte geschlossen? — Why are the shops closed?

Unlike English, German does not add a form of “do” to make these questions. The form of sein moves directly before the subject.

Negation: nicht and kein

Use nicht to negate an adjective, location, or the broader statement:

• Ich bin nicht müde. — I am not tired.
• Er ist nicht hier. — He is not here.
• Das ist nicht teuer. — That is not expensive.

Use kein before an indefinite noun when the positive version would have ein/eine or no article. It changes its ending like an article:

• Das ist kein Problem. — That is not a problem.
• Sie ist keine Ärztin. — She is not a doctor.

At beginner level, a useful shortcut is: nicht negates a quality or fact; kein negates a noun category or object.

Examples in Context

German	English	Note
Ich bin Student.	I am a student.	Identity; profession or role without an article
Du bist nett.	You are nice.	Informal singular du
Meine Schwester ist heute krank.	My sister is ill today.	Third-person singular
Das ist mein Platz.	That is my seat.	Identifying something
Wir sind Freunde.	We are friends.	First-person plural
Seid ihr schon fertig?	Are you all finished already?	Informal plural question
Die Kinder sind im Garten.	The children are in the garden.	Plural subject and location
Sind Sie Herr Neumann?	Are you Mr Neumann?	Formal Sie
Heute bin ich im Büro.	Today I am at the office.	Time phrase first; verb still second
Wo bist du jetzt?	Where are you now?	Question word followed by the verb
Es ist halb acht.	It is half past seven.	German clock time: halfway to eight
Das Essen ist nicht teuer.	The food is not expensive.	nicht negates an adjective
Lena ist eine gute Ärztin.	Lena is a good doctor.	Article used because the profession is modified
Ihr seid immer willkommen.	You are always welcome.	seid belongs with informal plural ihr
Das sind meine Eltern.	Those are my parents.	Plural noun phrase after das uses sind

Common Mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

• Wrong: Ich sein müde.
• Right: Ich bin müde.
• Why: Sein is the dictionary form. A normal present-tense statement needs the form that matches the subject: ich bin.

2. Mixing up bist and ist

• Wrong: Du ist nett.
• Right: Du bist nett.
• Why: Use bist with informal singular du. Use ist with er, sie, or es, and with a singular noun such as der Mann.

3. Confusing seid and seit

• Wrong: Ihr seit zu spät.
• Right: Ihr seid zu spät.
• Why: Seid is the verb form used with ihr. Seit is a preposition or conjunction connected with time: seit Montag (“since Monday”). This spelling mistake is common even among native speakers.

4. Using singular ist with a plural subject

• Wrong: Wir ist Freunde.
• Right: Wir sind Freunde.
• Why: Wir, sie, and formal Sie all take sind. A plural noun does too: Die Bücher sind neu.

5. Keeping English word order in a question

• Wrong: Du bist müde? when asking a neutral yes-or-no question
• Right: Bist du müde?
• Why: A standard yes-or-no question begins with the conjugated verb. The statement-like order can occur in conversation as an echo or confirmation question, but it should not be your default pattern.

6. Adding an adjective ending after sein

• Wrong: Die Häuser sind alte.
• Right: Die Häuser sind alt.
• Why: An adjective after sein is predicative and has no ending. Endings are needed when the adjective directly precedes a noun, as in die alten Häuser (“the old houses”).

Usage Notes

Informal and formal “you”

German makes distinctions that modern English does not. Use du bist for one person you address informally and ihr seid for several people addressed informally. Use Sie sind for one or more people in a formal relationship. Sie is capitalized in this use:

• Bist du neu hier? — Are you new here? (one person, informal)
• Seid ihr neu hier? — Are you new here? (several people, informal)
• Sind Sie neu hier? — Are you new here? (formal)

The choice between du and Sie depends on setting, relationship, age, and local or workplace custom. When someone invites you to use du, the usual phrase is Wir können uns duzen (“We can use du with each other”).

German often uses sein where English does too—but not always

Many basic uses line up neatly: Ich bin müde is literally “I am tired.” Still, avoid assuming that every English “be” expression has a word-for-word German equivalent.

For age, German does use sein: Ich bin 30 Jahre alt (“I am 30 years old”). But for existence, German very often uses es gibt rather than es ist/sind: Es gibt hier ein Café means “There is a café here.” By contrast, Das Café ist hier locates a particular café: “The café is here.”

Das ist and das sind

When pointing out or introducing something, German frequently uses das:

• Das ist Paul. — This/That is Paul.
• Das ist meine Tasche. — This/That is my bag.
• Das sind meine Kollegen. — These/Those are my colleagues.

With a plural noun phrase, standard German uses sind: Das sind meine Schlüssel. The word das stays unchanged.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following patterns at A1, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Sein as an auxiliary verb

An auxiliary verb (a helping verb used to build another verb form) can combine with a past participle. In the German perfect tense, sein is used with many verbs of movement or change of state:

• Ich bin nach Hause gegangen. — I went / have gone home.
• Das Kind ist eingeschlafen. — The child fell / has fallen asleep.

Here bin and ist still agree with the subject, but they help form the past rather than carrying the main meaning “be.” Which verbs select sein must be learned as part of later work on the perfect tense.

Other forms of sein

The simple past forms are war and waren: Ich war müde (“I was tired”), Wir waren in Köln (“We were in Cologne”). The past participle is gewesen: Ich bin dort gewesen (“I have been there”). In everyday storytelling, war is extremely common.

You will also encounter sei and wäre. These belong to the subjunctive (verb forms used for reported speech, wishes, hypotheticals, and other non-straightforward statements):

• Er sagt, er sei krank. — He says he is ill. (reported speech)
• Wenn ich reich wäre, ... — If I were rich, ... (hypothetical)

These are not alternative present forms for ordinary A1 statements. Continue to use bin, bist, ist, sind, and seid for normal present facts.

Passive and sein + zu constructions

Advanced German distinguishes a state from an action by using different auxiliaries. Die Tür ist geschlossen usually presents the door as being in a closed state; Die Tür wird geschlossen presents the action “The door is being closed.” Context can matter because geschlossen may function like an adjective.

Formal written German also uses sein + zu + infinitive to express necessity or possibility:

• Die Aufgabe ist heute zu erledigen. — The task must be completed today.
• Der Fehler ist leicht zu erkennen. — The error is easy to recognize.

This pattern is useful later, but it should not distract from the beginner rule: choose the correct present form and place it correctly in the sentence.

Practice Tips

1. Learn the forms as a rhythm. Recite ich bin, du bist, er ist; wir sind, ihr seid, sie sind. Then replace the pronouns with real names or nouns: Anna ist, meine Freunde sind. This connects the table to actual sentence building.
2. Build three sentence families. Make six short sentences each for identity (Ich bin ...), description (Das ist ...), and location (Wir sind ...). Turn each statement into a yes-or-no question by moving the verb to the front.
3. Target the easily confused pair. Write Ihr seid seit Montag hier (“You have been here since Monday”) a few times and say it aloud. Seeing seid and seit correctly used in one sentence helps fix the spelling distinction.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns (Nominative) — learn which pronoun selects each form of sein.
• Next step: Predicate Adjectives — explore why adjectives after sein remain uninflected.