The idea
Present tense: ich tanke, du tankst, er/sie/es tankt, wir tanken, ihr tankt, sie/Sie tanken. Learn the sentence pattern Kraftstoff tanken together with the principal parts.
| Form | Deutsch |
|---|---|
| ich | tanke |
| du | tankst |
| er/sie/es | tankt |
| wir | tanken |
| ihr | tankt |
| sie/Sie | tanken |
| Präteritum | tankte |
| Perfekt | hat getankt |
| Imperativ (du) | Tank! |
| Muster | Kraftstoff tanken |
Meaning and sentence pattern
Tanken usually means filling a vehicle with fuel. Electricity is normally expressed with laden, though Strom tanken is a figurative extension.
Learn this pattern as a unit: Kraftstoff tanken. The six situations below show the verb with concrete objects, complements or circumstances.
Form check
Ich bin getankt.Ich habe getankt.The active perfect of tanken uses haben, not sein.
Examples
- Ich tanke vor der langen Rückfahrt.I refuel before the long return journey.
- Du tankst an der Station außerhalb der Stadt.You refuel at the station outside town.
- Der Lieferwagen tankt vor Beginn der Tour.The delivery van refuels before starting the route.
- Wir tankten auf dem Weg zur Küste.We refueled on the way to the coast.
- Sie hat gestern vor der langen Fahrt getankt.She refueled yesterday before the long journey.
- Tank nur den Kraftstoff, der für das Fahrzeug vorgesehen ist.Use only the fuel specified for the vehicle.
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 active perfect of tanken uses haben, not sein.
Try it yourself
du ___ (tanken, Präsens)
Show answer or example answer
tankst
tankst: this is the second-person singular present form.
er/sie ___ (tanken, Präteritum)
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tankte
tankte: this is the third-person singular simple past.
Perfekt: er/sie hat ___
Show answer or example answer
getankt
getankt: in this use the perfect tense is hat getankt.
Practice round
Answer three questions, then rebuild three German sentences. We keep your score.
du ___ (tanken, Präsens)
er/sie ___ (tanken, 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 Kraftstoff tanken.