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GERMAN VERB

erleben

to experience, to go through

  • #258 most used
  • Weak verb
  • Past participle: erlebt

Conjugation

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

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

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

Simple past

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

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

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

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

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

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

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

How to use erleben

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

  1. Present

    In dieser Stadt erlebt man jeden Tag etwas Neues.

    In this city you experience something new every day.

  2. Simple past

    Im Urlaub erlebten wir ein schweres Gewitter.

    On holiday we went through a heavy thunderstorm.

  3. Perfect

    So etwas habe ich noch nie erlebt.

    I've never experienced anything like it.

  4. Future

    Ihr werdet in Japan viel erleben.

    You'll experience a lot in Japan.

  5. Conditional

    Ohne dich würde ich das alles nicht erleben.

    Without you I wouldn't be experiencing all this.

  6. Imperative

    Erlebt den Sommer, so lange er dauert!

    Enjoy the summer while it lasts!

Good to know

  • Erleben is to live through something, good or bad; das Erlebnis is the experience. Erfahren is to find out.

Where you hear erleben

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

German · Advanced Level 1

  • So etwas erlebe ich zum ersten Mal. I'm going through this for the first time.
  • Ich habe viel erlebt. I've been through a lot.
  • Morgen erleben wir etwas Neues. Tomorrow we'll experience something new.
18
Lea Interviews Frau Weber

Advanced Level 1 · Weil ich so etwas schon erlebt habe.

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: weak verb.