The idea
Present tense: ich lese, du liest, er/sie/es liest, wir lesen, ihr lest, sie/Sie lesen. Learn the sentence pattern einen Text lesen together with the principal parts.
| Form | Deutsch |
|---|---|
| ich | lese |
| du | liest |
| er/sie/es | liest |
| wir | lesen |
| ihr | lest |
| sie/Sie | lesen |
| Präteritum | las |
| Perfekt | hat gelesen |
| Imperativ (du) | Lies! |
| Muster | einen Text lesen |
Meaning and sentence pattern
Lesen changes e to ie in du liest and er liest. The imperative is lies, while the participle is gelesen.
Learn this pattern as a unit: einen Text lesen. The six situations below show the verb with concrete objects, complements or circumstances.
Form check
Du lesest die Nachricht.Du liest die Nachricht.The present singular changes the stem vowel to ie; lesest is not the ordinary present form.
Examples
- Ich lese die Anleitung vor dem Zusammenbau.I read the instructions before assembly.
- Du liest die letzte Zeile noch einmal.You read the last line once more.
- Die Schauspielerin liest aus ihrem neuen Buch.The actor reads from her new book.
- Am Bahnsteig las ich einen kurzen Bericht.At the platform I read a short report.
- Wir haben die Hinweise an der Tür gelesen.We have read the notices on the door.
- Lies bitte nur den fett gedruckten Absatz.Please read only the paragraph in bold.
Read-aloud uses a synthetic German voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No German device voice is available. You can still read the text and use the linked listening resources.
Watch out
The present singular changes the stem vowel to ie; lesest is not the ordinary present form.
Try it yourself
du ___ (lesen, Präsens)
Show answer or example answer
liest
liest: this is the second-person singular present form.
er/sie ___ (lesen, Präteritum)
Show answer or example answer
las
las: this is the third-person singular simple past.
Perfekt: er/sie hat ___
Show answer or example answer
gelesen
gelesen: in this use the perfect tense is hat gelesen.
Practice round
Answer three questions, then rebuild three German sentences. We keep your score.
du ___ (lesen, Präsens)
er/sie ___ (lesen, Präteritum)
Perfekt: er/sie hat ___
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Read the six situations aloud, compare the verb forms, and complete the present, past and participle checks. Then write a new sentence that follows einen Text lesen.