"Haben" means "to have" and it is the most important auxiliary verb. Its conjugation is irregular:
"haben" means:
1.-to have
Er hat Hunger
He’s hungry (has hunger)
2.- Auxiliary verb without meaning
When constructing a sentence with "haben", the object that one has must be declined in the accusative:
Ich habe einen Namen
I have a name
The verb "haben" is one of the 3 auxiliary verbs in German together with the verbs sein and werden. The verb "haben" functions as an auxiliary verb for most verbs in the following tenses:
Er wird es bald geschafft haben
He’ll have finished soon
Er hat gestern Fußball gespielt
He played soccer yesterday
Ich hatte den ganzen Tag gearbeitet. Danach habe ich eingekauft.
I had worked the whole day. Afterwards, I went shopping
Visit this link if you want to know when to use haben as an auxiliary verb.
"Haben" is irregular which is why its conjugation must be learned.
| Verb | Präteritum | Partizip II | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| haben | hatte | gehabt | to have |
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich habe | I have |
| du hast | you have |
| er hat | he has |
| wir haben | we have |
| ihr habt | you have |
| sie haben | they have |
Examples:
Ich habe einen Hund
I have a dog
Hast du Angst?
Are you afraid (do you have fear)?
Er hat Geld
He has money
Wir haben Glück
We have luck
Haben Sie Zeit?
Do you have time?
| Conjugation |
|---|
| ich habe |
| du habest |
| er habe |
| wir haben |
| ihr habet |
| sie haben |
Er sagte, er habe ein Auto
He said he had a car
More information about Konjunktiv I
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich hatte | I had |
| du hattest | you had |
| er hatte | he had |
| wir hatten | we had |
| ihr hattet | you had |
| sie hatten | they had |
Du hattest den Schlüssel
You had the key
Wir hatten einen Traum
We had a dream
More information about Präteritum
| Conjugation |
|---|
| ich hätte |
| du hättest |
| er hätte |
| wir hätten |
| ihr hättet |
| sie hätten |
Ich hätte gerne noch ein Bier
I would like to have another beer
More information about Konjunktiv II
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich habe gehabt | I have had |
| du hast gehabt | you have had |
| er hat gehabt | he has had |
| wir haben gehabt | we have had |
| ihr habt gehabt | you have had |
| sie haben gehabt | they have had |
Er hat eine Krankheit gehabt
He’s been sick
More information about Perfekt
| Imperativ | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd Person Singular | hab | have |
| 2nd Person Plural | habt | have |
Hab viel Glück!!
Good luck!!
More information about Imperative
| gehabt |
| haben |
The construction "haben" + "zu" has the meaning "to have to" and behaves like a modal verb.
Ich habe viel zu tun
I have a lot to do
There are several verbs with the stem "haben". Here are the main ones:
| Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| anhaben | to have on to wear (separable verb) |
| dabeihaben | to have something with you (separable verb) |
| vorhaben | to plan (separable verb) |