A1 - Irregular verb
Master Lesen
Question 1 of 10
📖Finish the conversation
A
Was du gerade?
B
Einen Krimi.
Each word answers one question. Used words turn gray.
Reference: lesen conjugation, tenses and meanings
The verb
lesen means to read: Ich lese ein Buch. Was liest du gerade? It is also used for reading a text aloud (vorlesen) and reading through (durchlesen), and it is the core skill of the B1 reading exam.
- Stem change e to ie: du liest, er liest; past las; done form gelesen.
- The perfect uses haben: ich habe gelesen.
- lesen in (a newspaper): Ich habe das in der Zeitung gelesen.
- Forms you will meet: liest, lese, las, Lies!, gelesen, zu lesen, gelesen hat, liest ... vor, Lies ... durch.
How this page works: ten words, ten questions. Every word answers exactly one question and turns gray once used. If you are unsure, open this tutorial and come back.
Conjugation
| Present | Past | Perfect | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | lese | las | habe gelesen |
| du | liest | last | hast gelesen |
| er / sie / es | liest | las | hat gelesen |
| wir | lesen | lasen | haben gelesen |
| ihr | lest | last | habt gelesen |
| sie / Sie | lesen | lasen | haben gelesen |
Commands: Lies! (to one person) · Lest! (to several) · Lesen Sie! (polite) · Lesen wir!
The done form (Partizip II) is gelesen.
Look-alikes: liest is du and er / sie / es; lest is ihr; lesen is wir and sie / Sie; las is ich and er / sie / es in the past.
Tenses
Ich lese ein Buch.
Present: I am reading a book.
Ich las ein Buch.
Past: I read a book (stories, writing).
Ich habe ein Buch gelesen.
Perfect: I read a book (spoken).
Ich hatte das Buch schon gelesen.
Past perfect: I had already read the book.
Ich werde das Buch lesen.
Future: I will read the book.
Ich würde das Buch gern lesen.
Imagined: I would like to read the book.
Word order
Er liest ein Buch.
Statement: the verb is in second place.
Liest du gern?
Question: the verb is first.
Ich weiß, dass er viel liest.
After dass: liest goes to the end.
Ich habe das Buch gelesen.
Perfect: habe second, gelesen at the end.
Es macht Spaß, im Urlaub viel zu lesen.
zu lesen at the end.
Ich weiß nicht, ob er den Brief gelesen hat.
After ob: gelesen hat (the helper comes last).
In long sentences, find the helper near the front and the verb at the end of that part. Extra information between commas can wait.
Little words
| Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| vorlesen | to read aloud | Ich lese dir eine Geschichte vor. |
| durchlesen | to read through | Lies den Text bitte durch! |
| nachlesen | to look up (in a text) | Das kannst du im Internet nachlesen. |
| weiterlesen | to keep reading | Ich lese morgen weiter. |
- In a normal sentence the little word runs to the end: Ich lese dir vor.
- Done form: ge goes inside: vorgelesen, durchgelesen.
- With zu: zu goes inside: Es ist schön, vorzulesen.
Meanings
Ich lese ein Buch.
I am reading a book.
Was liest du gerade?
What are you reading at the moment?
Ich habe das in der Zeitung gelesen.
I read that in the newspaper.
Lies bitte den Text!
Please read the text!
Er liest mir vor.
He reads to me.
Das kann man überall lesen.
You can read that everywhere.
Learn it together with its partner words. The partner decides the meaning.