1.5.1.4: Sein
- Page ID
- 104721
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Sein can be used either as the main verb of a sentence or as helping verbs. In this section, we will discuss sein as the main verb. Sein appears frequently in German, and just as frequently used verbs in English, it is quite irregular. The only thing to do is to memorize these forms.
| sein • to be | |
| ich bin | wir sind |
| du bist | ihr seid |
| er/sie/es ist | sie sind |
| Die zwei Brüder Wolf sind zu Hause. | The two wolf brothers are at home. | |
| Wolfgang ist im Wohnzimmer | Sein oder Nichtsein – das ist die Frage! | To be or not to be – that is the question! |
| Bruder Wolfdietrich | Du bist solch ein Aufschneider! | You are such a show-off! |
| Wolfgang | Das bin ich nicht! Ich bin einfach gebildet! | I am not! I am merely well-educated! |
| Wolfdietrich | Tja, Wölfe heutzutage glauben ... sie sind alle Philosophen. | Yeah, wolves nowadays think ... they are all philosophers. |
| related words | |
| das Sein | existence |
| Sein und Schein | appearance and reality |
| lass das sein! | let it be! |
| fun phrases | |
| du bist wer! | aha, you're certainly someone (important) |
| das wär's | that's it/that's all |
| ach, ich bin schon auf hundertachtzig | argh, I'm really mad! |
| du bist mir schon lange ein Dorn im Auge! | you've been really getting to me! [getting on my nerves] |
| du wirst bald hinter Gittern sein! | you'll end up behind bars one day, just watch it! |
| das ist ein Witz | that's ridiculous |
| bist du verrückt (nach mir)? | are you crazy (about me?) |
In these examples sein is the main verb of the sentence. It can also act as an auxiliary verb to express some forms of the conversational past.