Is it said differently in some regions?
In some regional dialects, particularly in southern Germany and Austria, Bin is commonly used instead of ich bin. In certain colloquial dialects, particularly in the northwestern parts of Germany, biste is used as a contraction of bist du.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb sein is irregular and must be conjugated in the present tense as bin, bist, ist, sind, seid and sind. The third-person singular form ist is used for both masculine, feminine and neuter subjects. The form sind is used for both the first-person plural (we are) and the third-person plural (they are). The form seid is specifically the second-person plural (you all are) conjugation. The simple past tense of sein is formed using the irregular forms war, warst, war, waren, wart and waren. The past participle of sein is gewesen.
How do you pronounce it?
/zaɪ̯n/
Did you know?
- The word sein is a homonym that also means 'his' or 'its' in German.
- In German, the verb sein is used as an auxiliary for verbs of movement, unlike English which mostly uses 'have' for the present perfect.
- The modern German verb sein is a 'Frankenstein' verb made of several different ancient roots. It combines pieces from different historical verbs to create the single set of forms we use today.
Examples in context
- So muss es sein.That's how it should be.This sentence shows how to say 'That's how it should be' using sein.Tatoeba #2189717 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #2160866 by Hybrid
- Es wird da sein.It'll be there.This sentence uses sein to express that something will be in a location.Tatoeba #6626092 by Felixjp, translation #2248976 by CK
- Es muss da sein.It has to be there.This sentence uses sein to express that something must be in a location.Tatoeba #6626094 by Felixjp, translation #3178596 by CK
- Ich binI am
- Du bistYou are
- Er/sie/es istHe/she/it is
- 5838 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lukas and Laura are discussing who will be the team leader.
- LukasIch möchte der Teamleiter sein.I want to be the team leader.
- LauraDas kann ich mir gut vorstellen, Lukas.I can imagine that well, Lukas.
- LukasWürdest du es auch gern sein?Would you also like to be it?
- LauraNein, ich bleibe lieber die Assistentin.No, I prefer to remain the assistant.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “be” translations and entries sein, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
