To be or not to be: When to use ‘haben’ vs. ‘sein’ in German?

Most German verbs form the compound tenses with haben (meaning to have). These include all reflexive verbs, transitive verbs, modal verbs, reciprocal verbs and impersonal verbs.

1. Reflexive verbs → Verbs for which the subject and object are the same, where a reflexive pronoun like “herself” or “themselves” is used:

   Unser Hund hat sich beim Raufen die Pfoten verletzt.

   Translation: Our dog hurt his paws while roughhousing.

2. Transitive verbs → Verbs that accept a direct object.

   Der Spieler hatte den Ball bereits versenkt, als der Schlusspfiff ertönte.

   Translation: The player had already put the ball in the net when the final whistle sounded.

3. Modal verbs → Words like können or wollen that are often used in conjunction with a main verb to express possibility, intention or necessity.

   Das habe ich nun wirklich nicht gewollt!

   Translation: I really didn’t want that!

4. Reciprocal verbs → describe actions that people simultaneously perform on one another, such as sich umarmen (to hug), sich küssen (to kiss), sich lieben (to love each other) etc.

   Nachdem wir uns geküsst hatten, war alles anders.

   Translation: After we had kissed (each other), everything was different.

5. Impersonal verbs → verbs that do not use a specific subject, but instead have a generic subject es (meaning it). These verbs are frequently used to describe the weather, among other things:

   Es hat die ganze Nacht geregnet.

   Translation: It rained the whole night.

Sein is used to form compound tenses in much fewer cases than haben, but the verbs it is used with can be quite common. Here are some types of verbs that commonly use sein to form compound tenses:

1. Verbs indicating the subject’s movement from A to B:

   • Er ist unser schnellster Läufer. Nach einer Stunde wird er schon 15 Kilometer gerannt sein.

     Translation: He is our fastest runner. After one hour, he will have already run 15 kilometers.
   • Ich hoffe, nächstes Jahr zu Weihnachten werden wir schon nach Berlin gezogen sein.

     Translation: I hope next year at Christmas we will have already moved to Berlin.

2. Verbs indicating a change of state, such as werden (meaning to become), einschlafen (meaning to fall asleep), sterben (meaning to die) and schmelzen (meaning to melt).

   • Mein Bruder ist zum dritten Mal Vater geworden.

     Translation: My brother has become a father for the third time.
   • Die Kinder waren schon eingeschlafen, als die Mutter von der Spätschicht nach Hause kam.

     Translation: The children had already fallen asleep when the mother came home from the late shift.
   • Die Fußballlegende ist letzte Nacht mit stolzen 92 Jahren gestorben.

     Translation: The football legend died last night at the proud age of 92.
   • Der erste Schnee ist bereits wieder geschmolzen.

     Translation: The first snow has already melted.

   Note, though, that the transitive use of verbs like schmelzen (meaning to melt) requires the use of haben!

   Die Sonne hat den ersten Schnee bereits wieder geschmolzen.

   Translation: The sun has already melted the first snow again.

3. The verbs sein (meaning to be) and bleiben (meaning to stay) and also use sein as their auxiliary verb in compound tenses:

   • Aber das ist immer so gewesen!

     Translation: But it’s always been like this!
   • Fast die Hälfte der Wähler ist zu Hause geblieben.

     Translation: Almost half of the voters stayed at home.

There are some verbs that can be used with either haben or sein, but there is usually some difference in how they are being used in each case. Let’s look at a few circumstances like this:

• Transitive vs. intransitive change-of-state verbs

  We saw above that change-of-state verbs usually take sein, but some change-of-state verbs can also be used with a direct object, implying that the subject caused the change-of-state. In this second use, we use them with haben instead:

  • Der erste Schnee ist bereits wieder geschmolzen.

    Translation: The first snow has already melted.

    The subject melted = intransitive
  • Die Sonne hat den ersten Schnee bereits wieder geschmolzen.

    Translation: The sun has already melted the first snow again.

    The object melted = transitive

• Subject moving from A to B vs. object moving from A to B

  Similarly, we saw above that movement verbs usually take sein. However, if we are using them to express that someone moved an object from place-to-place, you’ll use haben instead. Compare:

  • Der Ball ist langsam ins Tor gerollt.

    Translation: The ball rolled slowly into the goal.

    The subject (ball) rolled = intransitive
  • Bei diesem Witz haben viele Zuschauer die Augen gerollt.

    Translation: Many viewers rolled their eyes at this joke.

    The object (eyes) rolled = transitive

  Verbs in which the subject stays in the same place will always take haben, not sein:

  • Wo hast du den Schlüssel hingelegt?

    Translation: Where did you put the keys?
  • Haben Sie gerade Müll aus ihrem Auto geworfen?

    Translation: Did you just throw trash out of your window?

• Moving in place vs. moving from A to B

  Verbs in which the subject moves around in a single spot, generally take haben, while those in which the movement takes someone from place-to-place use sein. The verb tanzen (meaning to dance) provides an interesting example:

  • Wir haben die ganze Nacht ohne Pause getanzt.

    Translation: We danced all night without a break.

    Dancing in a single location
  • Der Winter ist erst vorbei, wenn das letzte Flöckchen vom Himmel getanzt ist.

    Translation: Winter is not over until the last flake has danced out of the sky.

    Dancing from point A to point B

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