Conjugation of the German Verb “Gehen”

The verb “gehen” has an irregular conjugation, which means that in certain forms the verb changes its vowels,
and in its past participle form the suffix –en is added. Because of this conjugation pattern, the word “gehen” is
also described as a strong verb.
Present Tense (Präsenz)

ich gehe I go (I am going)
du gehst you go (you are going)
er/sie/es geht he/she/it goes (he/she/it is going)
wir gehen we go (we are going)
ihr geht you go (you are going)
sie gehen they go (they are going)

Ich gehe morgen nach Frankreich. – I am going to France tomorrow.

Wir gehen in die Oper. – We’re going to the opera.
Gehst du auch in die Theodor-Heuss-Schule? – Are you going to Theodor Heuss High School as well?
Geht es, wenn wir uns morgen um fünf Uhr treffen? – Is it possible we’re meeting tomorrow at five o’clock?
Wie geht es dir? – How are you doing?
Es geht, danke. – I’m okay, thanks.
-[Es geht can also be shortened to geht so, although this is rather informal.]

Simple Past Tense (Imperfekt)

It is used a lot 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. However, in day-to-day language, the simple past tense almost
has completely vanished, and is instead replaced by the Perfekt  (present perfect)

ich ging I went

du gingst you went
er/sie/es ging he/she/it went
wir gingen we went
ihr gingt you went
Sie gingen they went

In the simple past tense, the vowel in the middle changes from e to i, and in certain forms (such as in “wir gingen”
and “sie gingen”) the suffix –en is added to the verb.

The simple past tense is mostly used in formal or written language. If you’re in a non-formal situation, using the
form “ich ging” will sound almost old-fashioned. Instead, most Germans use the Perfekt (present perfect) and
rather opt for using “ich bin gegangen”, which fulfills the role of the simple past tense in everyday and
casual/informal language.

Er ging in die Niederlande, um die Gemälde Vincent van Goghs zu studieren. – He went to the Netherlands to
study the paintings of Vincent van Gogh.
Am Montagmorgen ist mein Föhn kaputt gegangen. Er ging einfach nicht mehr. – My hair dryer broke on Monday
morning. It just stopped working.
Ich ging mit ihr nach Spanien. – I went to Spain with her.
In den letzten Jahren ging es der Firma nicht gut. – In the last couple of years, the company didn’t do well.
Present Perfect Tense (Perfekt)

When conjugating the German verb “gehen” in the present perfect tense, the verb “sein” is used as a “helping
verb”. This might be especially confusing for native English speakers since in English the verb “to have” (rather
than “to go”) is commonly used in this case.

Depending on the meaning and context of the sentence, the present perfect tense of the German verb “gehen”
can either mean “I went” (ich bin gegangen) or “I have gone”. Notice also how the verb “gehen” shifts to
“gegangen” in the present perfect tense – and also in the past perfect tense.

ich bin gegangen I went (or I have gone)

du bist gegangen you went (or you have gone)
er/sie/es ist gegangen he/she/it went (or he/she/it has gone)
wir sind gegangen we went (or we have gone)
ihr seid gegangen you went (or you have gone)
sie sind gegangen they went (or they have gone)

Mir ging es nicht gut, deshalb bin ich etwas früher nach Hause gegangen. – I wasn’t feeling well, so I went home a
little earlier.
Warum seid ihr ohne mich gegangen? – Why have you guys gone without me?
Sie ist für ein Jahr nach Australien gegangen. – She went to Australia for a year.
Es ist alles gut gegangen! – Everything went fine!

Past Perfect Tense (Plusquamperfekt)

The Plusquamperfekt is very similar to the present perfect tense. In fact, the only difference is that the helping
verb “sein” takes the past tense form instead.
The past perfect tense is used to describe situations that have happened before another action took place in the
past, such as “Ich habe  nach dir gesucht, aber du warst schon gegangen” (“I had been looking for you, but
you had already gone”).
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). Since one action has to follow the other to really make sense in a statement,
the Plusquamperfekt  or present perfect tense is rarely used in a single, independent statement.

ich war gegangen I had gone

du warst gegangen you had gone
er/sie/es war gegangen he/she/it had gone
wir waren gegangen we had gone
ihr wart gegangen you had gone
sie waren gegangen they had gone

Ich hatte nach Tom und Anja gesucht, aber sie waren schon gegangen. – I had been looking for Tom and Anja, but
they had already gone.
Ich wollte sie in San Francisco treffen, aber sie war bereits gegangen. – I wanted to meet her in San Francisco, but
she had already left.
Er wollte seinen Hund wieder mitbringen, doch es war schon beim letzten Mal nicht gut gegangen. – He wanted
to bring his dog with him again, but that already hadn’t gone well the last time.
Ich hatte angenommen, dass ihr schon gegangen wart. – I assumed you had already left.
Future Tense (Futur)

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.

This could, for example, mean that instead of saying “Ich werde am Freitag nach Berlin gehen” (I will be going to
Berlin on Friday), the expression “Ich gehe am Freitag nach Berlin” (I am going to Berlin on Friday) is used.

The helping verb “werden” (to become) is used for building the future tense of the German verb “gehen”. The
word “werden” often indicates a passive action taking place.

ich werde gehen I will go

du wirst gehen you will go
er/sie/es wird gehen he/she/it will go
wir werden gehen we will go
ihr werdet gehen you will go
sie werden gehen they will go

Er wird am Montag wieder nach Hause gehen. – He will return home on Monday.
Werdet ihr dieses Jahr nach Irland gehen? – Will you guys be going to Ireland this year?
Ich fürchte, das wird nicht gehen. – I’m afraid that will not be feasible.
Mark wird am Freitag mit Lisa zum Arzt gehen. Sie hat eine Mittelohrentzündung. – Mark will take Lisa to the
doctor on Friday. She has a middle ear infection.

Future Perfect Tense (Futur II)

The future perfect tense is used to describe the so-called vollendete Zukunft, which roughly means “completed
future”. When using the Futur II,  you are describing a situation that will take place in the future, but that is going
to already be completed by that time. You can also use the Futur II  to express an assumption or speculation:

ich werde gegangen sein I will have gone

du wirst gegangen sein you will have gone
er/sie/es wird gegangen sein he/she/it will have gone
wir werden gegangen sein we will have gone
ihr werdet gegangen sein you will have gone
sie werden gegangen sein they will have gone

Bis dahin werde ich schon nach Frankreich gegangen sein. – By that point, I will already have gone to France.
Er wird wohl am Freitag nach Hause gegangen sein. – He certainly must’ve gone home on Friday.
[This sentence describes an assumption. In German, an assumption is often indicated by words
like wohl (certainly), sicher (certain) or bestimmt (certainly)]
Du wirst doch nicht dorthin gegangen sein? – You haven’t gone there, have you?

Commands (Imperativ)

Depending on the situation, commands can be an important part of the German language. They’re not commonly
used. There are only three command forms in the Imperativ 

Geh! (or gehe!) (You) go!

Geht! (as in “ihr geht”) (You guys) go!
Gehen wir! Let’s go!

While “gehen wir” is a commonly used term, I’d recommend using both other forms of the Imperativ  of the verb
“gehen” carefully, since they can easily be interpreted as rude. You can add the word “bitte” (please) to make it a
little more polite. The same cannot, however, be done with the expression “Gehen wir!”
Geh bitte (or bitte geh). – Please go.