{"id":2532,"date":"2018-08-20T21:24:04","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T21:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/?p=2532"},"modified":"2018-11-20T20:22:44","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T20:22:44","slug":"german-verb-gehen-conjugation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/german-verb-gehen-conjugation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to the German Verb \u201cGehen\u201d \u2013 All About Conjugation and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Whether you need to state where you\u2019re going on holiday or ask a friend if they can meet you tomorrow at 6 PM \u2013 chances are you\u2019ll want to use the German verb \u201cgehen\u201d.<\/p>\n

The German verb \u201cgehen\u201d is used a lot<\/em>, and it is quite possible that you will find yourself using it often as well.<\/p>\n

The verb \u201cgehen\u201d has an irregular conjugation<\/strong>, which means that in certain forms the verb changes its vowels, and in its past participle form the suffix \u2013en<\/em><\/strong> is added.<\/p>\n

Because of this conjugation pattern, the word \u201cgehen\u201d is also described as a strong verb<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Conjugation of the German Verb \u201cGehen\u201d \u2013\u00a0Present Tense (Pr\u00e4senz<\/em>)<\/h2>\n

Singular<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
ich gehe<\/strong><\/td>\nI go (I am going)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
du gehst<\/strong><\/td>\nyou go (you are going)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
er\/sie\/es geht<\/strong><\/td>\nhe\/she\/it goes (he\/she\/it is going)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Plural<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
wir gehen<\/strong><\/td>\nwe go (we are going)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ihr geht<\/strong><\/td>\nyou go (you are going)
\n(as in: you guys are going<\/em>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sie gehen<\/strong><\/td>\nthey go (they are going)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

You’ve probably already noticed that in German there is no present progressive tense like in the English language.<\/p>\n

In English, the purpose of the present progressive tense is to indicate that you have certain plans for the future, as in\u00a0I\u2019m going to Chicago tomorrow.<\/em><\/p>\n

In German, however, whether you have concrete plans or not, there is only \u201cI go\u201d and not \u201cI am going\u201d or \u201cI am going to go\u201d. So the only way to figure out whether a plan is immediate or not is to look at the actual meaning of the sentence<\/strong> (usually hinted at by temporal adverbs such as tomorrow<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Examples<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Ich<\/strong> gehe<\/strong><\/span> morgen<\/em> nach Frankreich. \u2013 I am going to France tomorrow<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Wir<\/strong> gehen<\/strong><\/span> in die Oper. \u2013 We\u2019re going to the opera<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Gehst<\/strong><\/span> du<\/strong> auch in die Theodor-Heuss-Schule? \u2013 Are you going to Theodor Heuss High School as well<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Wie geht<\/strong><\/span> es dir? \u2013 How are you doing<\/em>?
\nEs geht<\/strong><\/span>, danke. \u2013 I\u2019m okay, thanks.<\/em>
\n[Es geht<\/em>\u00a0is a German expression that basically means that you\u2019re not doing too good, but things are also not extremely bad. Think of a mediocre in-between. This expression can also be shortened to geht so<\/strong><\/em>, although this is rather informal.]<\/p>\n

Geht<\/strong><\/span> es<\/strong>, wenn wir uns morgen um f\u00fcnf Uhr treffen? \u2013 Is it possible we\u2019re meeting tomorrow at five o\u2019clock<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Conjugation of the German Verb \u201cGehen\u201d \u2013\u00a0Simple Past Tense (Imperfekt<\/em>)<\/h2>\n

The simple past tense in German is kind of a special tense. It is used a lot<\/em> in written and formal language, so you’re likely to encounter it when listening to a speech, reading the newspaper or watching a documentary on TV.<\/p>\n

However, in day-to-day language, the simple past tense almost has completely vanished, and is instead replaced by the Perfekt <\/em>(present perfect), which I\u2019ll give you all the details about after we have a closer look at the Imperfekt<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Now, before we talk about the specifics, let me give you a better idea of how the simple past tense works.<\/p>\n

Singular<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
ich ging<\/strong><\/td>\nI went<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
du gingst<\/strong><\/td>\nyou went<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
er\/sie\/es ging<\/strong><\/td>\nhe\/she\/it went<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Plural<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
wir gingen<\/strong><\/td>\nwe went<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ihr gingt<\/strong><\/td>\nyou went
\n(as in: you guys went)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sie gingen<\/strong><\/td>\nthey went<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

In the simple past tense, the vowel in the middle changes from e <\/strong>to i<\/strong>, and in certain forms (such as in \u201cwir gingen<\/strong>\u201d and \u201csie gingen<\/strong>\u201d) the suffix \u2013en<\/strong><\/em> is added to the verb.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned earlier, the simple past tense is mostly used in formal or written language. If you\u2019re in a non-formal situation, using the form \u201cich ging\u201d will probably earn you some strange looks, as it sounds almost old-fashioned.<\/p>\n

Instead, most Germans use the Perfekt<\/em> (present perfect) and rather opt for using \u201cich bin gegangen<\/strong>\u201d, which fulfills the role of the simple past tense in everyday and casual\/informal language.<\/p>\n

But before we move on to the more widely used present perfect, let\u2019s take a look at some examples of the German verb \u201cgehen\u201d in the simple past tense.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Er<\/strong> ging<\/strong><\/span> in die Niederlande, um die Gem\u00e4lde Vincent van Goghs zu studieren. \u2013 He went to the Netherlands to study the paintings of Vincent van Gogh<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Am Montagmorgen ist mein F\u00f6hn kaputt gegangen. Er<\/strong> ging<\/strong><\/span> einfach nicht mehr. \u2013 My hair dryer broke on Monday morning. It just stopped working<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ich<\/strong> ging<\/strong><\/span> mit ihr nach Spanien. \u2013 I went to Spain with her<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In den letzten Jahren ging<\/strong><\/span> es<\/strong> der Firma nicht gut. \u2013 In the last couple of years, the company didn’t do well<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Conjugation of the German Verb \u201cGehen\u201d \u2013 Present Perfect Tense (Perfekt<\/em>)<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve already briefly talked about the Perfekt <\/em>in the previous section. When conjugating the German verb \u201cgehen\u201d in the present perfect tense, the verb \u201csein<\/strong>\u201d is used as a \u201chelping verb\u201d. This might be especially confusing for native English speakers since in English the verb \u201cto have\u201d (rather than \u201cto go\u201d) is commonly used in this case.<\/p>\n

Depending on the meaning and context of the sentence, the present perfect tense of the German verb \u201cgehen\u201d can either mean \u201cI went\u201d (ich bin gegangen<\/em>) or \u201cI have gone\u201d.<\/p>\n

Singular<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
ich bin<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nI went (or<\/strong> I have gone)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
du bist<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nyou went (or<\/strong> you have gone)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
er\/sie\/es ist<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nhe\/she\/it went (or he\/she\/it has gone)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Plural<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
wir sind<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nwe went (or we have gone)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ihr seid<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nyou went (or you have gone)
\n(as in: you guys have gone<\/em>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sie sind<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nthey went (or they have gone)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Notice also how the verb \u201cgehen\u201d shifts to \u201cgegangen<\/strong>\u201d in the present perfect tense \u2013 and also in the past perfect tense, which I am going to explain in the next section.<\/p>\n

You will \u2013 unfortunately \u2013 simply have to memorize the word \u201cgegangen\u201d, as well as remember in which tenses it is used.<\/p>\n

The good news is that there are (thankfully<\/em>) no special forms of the verb \u201cgehen\u201d in the present perfect tense and the past perfect tense. It always stays \u201cgegangen<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Mir ging es nicht gut, deshalb bin<\/strong> ich<\/strong> etwas fr\u00fcher nach Hause gegangen<\/strong><\/span>. \u2013 I wasn\u2019t feeling well, so I went home a little earlier<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Warum seid<\/strong> ihr<\/strong> ohne mich gegangen<\/strong><\/span>? \u2013 Why have you guys gone without me<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Sie<\/strong> ist<\/strong> f\u00fcr ein Jahr nach Australien gegangen<\/strong><\/span>. \u2013 She went to Australia for a year<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Es ist<\/strong> alles gut gegangen<\/strong><\/span>! \u2013 Everything went fine<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Conjugation of the German Verb \u201cGehen\u201d \u2013 Past Perfect Tense (Plusquamperfekt<\/em>)<\/h2>\n

The Plusquamperfekt<\/em> (a weird name, I know!) is very similar to the present perfect tense. In fact, the only difference is that the helping verb<\/em> \u201csein\u201d takes the past tense form instead. Other than that, everything is pretty much the same as in the present perfect tense.<\/p>\n

The past perfect tense is used to describe situations that have happened before<\/em> another action took place in the past, such as \u201cIch habe <\/em>nach dir gesucht, aber du warst<\/strong> schon gegangen<\/strong>\u201d (\u201cI had been<\/em> looking for you, but you had<\/strong> already<\/strong> gone\u201d).<\/p>\n

As you can see from this example, one action (in this case the person leaving) had taken place before the other (you looking for said person).<\/p>\n

Since one action has to follow the other to really make sense in a statement, the Plusquamperfekt <\/em>or present perfect tense is rarely used in a single, independent statement.<\/p>\n

Both the present perfect tense and the past perfect tense are a good opportunity to brush up on your knowledge of all tenses of the word \u201csein<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Singular<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
ich war<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nI had gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
du warst<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nyou had gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
er\/sie\/es war<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nhe\/she\/it had gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Plural<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
wir waren<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nwe had gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ihr wart<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nyou had gone
\n(as in: you guys had gone<\/em>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sie waren<\/em> gegangen<\/strong><\/td>\nthey had gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Examples<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Ich hatte nach Tom und Anja gesucht, aber sie waren<\/strong> schon gegangen<\/strong><\/span>. \u2013 I had been looking for Tom and Anja, but they had already gone<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ich wollte sie in San Francisco treffen, aber sie war<\/strong> bereits gegangen<\/strong><\/span>. \u2013 I wanted to meet her in San Francisco, but she had already left<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Er wollte seinen Hund wieder mitbringen, doch es<\/strong> war <\/strong>schon beim letzten Mal nicht gut gegangen<\/strong><\/span>. \u2013 He wanted to bring his dog with him again, but that already hadn\u2019t gone well the last time<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ich hatte angenommen, dass ihr<\/strong> schon gegangen<\/span> wart<\/strong>. \u2013 I assumed you had already left<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Conjugation of the German Verb \u201cGehen\u201d \u2013 Future Tense (Futur<\/em>)<\/h2>\n

The future tense is a bit of a rare case in German. While it is sometimes used in formal and written language, in most cases (especially in spoken language) Germans opt for the present tense paired with an adverb instead.<\/p>\n

This could, for example, mean that instead of saying \u201cIch werde am Freitag nach Berlin gehen\u201d (I will be going to Berlin on Friday<\/em>), the expression \u201cIch gehe am Freitag nach Berlin\u201d (I am going to Berlin on Friday<\/em>) is used.<\/p>\n

As you can see in the examples below, the helping verb \u201cwerden\u201d (to become<\/em>) is used for building the future tense of the German verb \u201cgehen\u201d. The word \u201cwerden\u201d often indicates a passive action taking place.<\/p>\n

Singular<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
ich werde<\/em> gehen<\/strong><\/td>\nI will go<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
du wirst<\/em> gehen<\/strong><\/td>\nyou will go<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
er\/sie\/es wird<\/em> gehen<\/strong><\/td>\nhe\/she\/it will go<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Plural<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
wir werden<\/em> gehen<\/strong><\/td>\nwe will go<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ihr werdet<\/em> gehen<\/strong><\/td>\nyou will go
\n(as in: you guys will go<\/em>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sie werden<\/em> gehen<\/strong><\/td>\nthey will go<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Examples<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Er wird<\/strong> am Montag wieder nach Hause gehen<\/strong><\/span>. \u2013 He will return home on Monday<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Werdet ihr<\/strong> dieses Jahr nach Irland gehen<\/strong><\/span>? \u2013 Will you guys be going to Ireland this year<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Ich f\u00fcrchte, das wird<\/strong> nicht gehen<\/strong><\/span>. \u2013 I\u2019m afraid that will not be feasible<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Mark wird<\/strong> am Freitag mit Lisa zum Arzt gehen<\/strong><\/span>. Sie hat eine Mittelohrentz\u00fcndung. \u2013 Mark will take Lisa to the doctor on Friday. She has a middle ear infection<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Conjugation of the German Verb \u201cGehen\u201d \u2013 Future Perfect Tense (Futur II<\/em>)<\/h2>\n

Admittedly, the Futur II<\/em> is not the easiest of tenses. Upon first seeing it, you might think it is some sort of weird mashup of different tenses \u2013 and you might even question its purpose.<\/p>\n

The answer is (relatively) simple: the future perfect tense is used to describe the so-called vollendete Zukunft<\/em>, which roughly means \u201ccompleted future<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

When using the Futur II,\u00a0<\/em>you are describing a situation that will take place in the future, but that is going to already be completed by that time.<\/p>\n

Still confused?<\/p>\n

Let me give you an example: if you wanted to say \u201cIn two years, I will have built a treehouse for my son\u201d in German, you would use the future perfect tense:\u00a0In zwei Jahren werde ich meinem Sohn ein Baumhaus gebaut haben.<\/em><\/p>\n

You can also use the Futur II <\/em>to express an assumption or speculation:<\/p>\n

Martin ist sp\u00e4t dran. Er wird wohl eine Panne gehabt haben. \u2013 Martin is running late. His car must have broken down<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s take a closer look at the conjugation of the verb \u201cgehen\u201d in the future perfect tense.<\/p>\n

Singular<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
ich werde<\/em> gegangen<\/strong> sein<\/em><\/td>\nI will have gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
du wirst<\/em> gegangen<\/strong> sein<\/em><\/td>\nyou will have gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
er\/sie\/es wird<\/em> gegangen<\/strong> sein<\/em><\/td>\nhe\/she\/it will have gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Plural<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
wir werden<\/em> gegangen<\/strong> sein<\/em><\/td>\nwe will have gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ihr werdet<\/em> gegangen<\/strong> sein<\/em><\/td>\nyou will have gone
\n(as in: you guys will have gone<\/em>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sie werden<\/em> gegangen<\/strong> sein<\/em><\/td>\nthey will have gone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Examples<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Bis dahin werde<\/strong> ich<\/strong> schon nach Frankreich gegangen<\/span> sein<\/strong>. \u2013 By that point, I will already have gone to France<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Er wird<\/strong> wohl am Freitag nach Hause gegangen<\/span> sein<\/strong>. \u2013 He certainly must\u2019ve gone home on Friday<\/em>.
\n[This sentence describes an assumption. The person talking assumes that he must have gone home on Friday. In German, an assumption is often indicated by words like wohl<\/strong> (certainly), sicher<\/strong> (certain) or bestimmt <\/strong>(certainly)]<\/p>\n

Du wirst<\/strong> doch nicht dorthin gegangen<\/span> sein<\/strong>? \u2013 You haven\u2019t gone there, have you<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Conjugation of the German Verb \u201cGehen\u201d \u2013 Commands (Imperativ<\/em>)<\/h2>\n

Depending on the situation, commands can be an important part of the German language. While they\u2019re not commonly used, I think they could still give you an interesting insight into the conjugation of the verb \u201cgehen\u201d.<\/p>\n

There are only three command forms in the Imperativ <\/em>\u2013 and they\u2019re not even that hard to keep in mind! Let me show you.<\/p>\n

Geh<\/strong>! (or gehe<\/strong>!) \u2013 (You<\/em>) go<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Geht<\/strong>! (as in \u201cihr geht<\/strong>\u201d) \u2013 (You guys<\/em>) go<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Gehen wir<\/strong>! \u2013 Let\u2019s go<\/em>!<\/p>\n

While \u201cgehen wir\u201d is a commonly used term, I\u2019d recommend using both other forms of the Imperativ <\/em>of the verb \u201cgehen\u201d carefully, since they can easily be interpreted as rude.<\/p>\n

In order to take some of the edge off, you can add the word \u201cbitte<\/strong>\u201d (please<\/em>) to make it a little more polite, as in:<\/p>\n

Geh bitte<\/strong> (or bitte geh<\/strong>). \u2013 Please go<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The same cannot, however, be done with the expression \u201cGehen wir!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

This was a lot to process \u2013 but fear not!<\/p>\n

By using Clozemaster, you can easily test your knowledge and practice the conjugation of the verb \u201cgehen\u201d, from present tense to Futur II<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Good luck!<\/p>\n

Challenge yourself with Clozemaster<\/h2>\n

Test your skills and see what you’ve learned from this article by playing a selection of sentences with forms of the German verb \u201cgehen\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n