Skip to content
fluentbyear

GERMAN VERB

denken

to think

  • #21 most used
  • Mixed verb
  • Past participle: gedacht

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

  1. ich I think
  2. du you think
  3. er, sie, es he/she thinks
  4. wir we think
  5. ihr you all think
  6. sie, Sie they think

Simple past

Präteritum · the past of writing, and of sein, haben and the modals in speech

  1. ich I thought
  2. du you thought
  3. er, sie, es he/she thought
  4. wir we thought
  5. ihr you all thought
  6. sie, Sie they thought

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

  1. ich I have thought
  2. du you have thought
  3. er, sie, es he/she has thought
  4. wir we have thought
  5. ihr you all have thought
  6. sie, Sie they have thought

Future

Futur I · “werden”; in speech the present with “morgen” does the job

  1. ich I will think
  2. du you will think
  3. er, sie, es he/she will think
  4. wir we will think
  5. ihr you all will think
  6. sie, Sie they will think

Conditional

Konjunktiv II · “would”: “würde”, and “wäre”, “hätte”, “könnte”

  1. ich I would think
  2. du you would think
  3. er, sie, es he/she would think
  4. wir we would think
  5. ihr you all would think
  6. sie, Sie they would think

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

  1. du think!
  2. ihr think! (all of you)
  3. Sie think! (formal)

How to use denken

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Ich denke oft an meine Zeit in Berlin.

    I often think of my time in Berlin.

  2. Simple past

    Ich dachte, du kommst erst morgen.

    I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow.

  3. Perfect

    Daran habe ich gar nicht gedacht.

    I didn't think of that at all.

  4. Future

    Du wirst noch oft an diesen Tag denken.

    You'll often think back to this day.

  5. Conditional

    Ich würde nie so über dich denken.

    I would never think that about you.

  6. Imperative

    Denk bitte an die Schlüssel!

    Please remember the keys!

Good to know

  • Denken an, with the accusative, is to think of someone or something: Ich denke an dich.
  • For an opinion, ich denke and ich glaube both work; ich finde says how something strikes you.

Where you hear denken

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

German · Intermediate Level 1

  • Ich denke an Berlin. I'm thinking of Berlin.
  • Das habe ich auch gedacht. I thought that too.
  • Morgen denke ich an die Arbeit. Tomorrow I'll think about work.

German · Intermediate Level 3

  • Ich denke an Berlin. I'm thinking of Berlin.
  • Das habe ich auch gedacht. I thought that too.
  • Morgen denke ich an die Arbeit. Tomorrow I'll think about work.
1
The Letter from the Newsroom

Intermediate Level 1 · Ich hätte nie gedacht, dass sie mich einladen.

Free 23
Herr Krause's Night

Intermediate Level 3 · Und am Morgen? Was haben Sie gedacht?

Needs a subscription 18
The Last Letter

Advanced Level 3 · Denkt an uns. Und lebt wohl.

Needs a subscription 12
What She Thought

Fluency Level 3 · Frau Weber, was dachten Sie damals? · Ehrlich? Ich dachte, der bleibt keinen Monat. · Das dachte ich auch. · Und heute, Frau Weber? Was denken Sie?

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: mixed verb.