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fluentbyear

GERMAN VERB

stehlen

to steal

  • #444 most used
  • Strong verb
  • Past participle: gestohlen

Conjugation

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

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

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

Simple past

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

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

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

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

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

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

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

How to use stehlen

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

  1. Present

    Warum stiehlt jemand einen alten Regenschirm?

    Why would someone steal an old umbrella?

  2. Simple past

    Jemand stahl ihr die Tasche im Zug.

    Someone stole her bag on the train.

  3. Perfect

    Man hat mir das Handy gestohlen.

    Someone stole my phone.

  4. Future

    Niemand wird dein altes Auto stehlen, keine Sorge.

    Nobody's going to steal your old car, don't worry.

  5. Conditional

    Ich würde nie etwas stehlen, auch nicht aus Hunger.

    I would never steal anything, not even out of hunger.

  6. Imperative

    Stiehl mir nicht schon wieder die Decke!

    Don't steal the blanket from me again!

Good to know

  • Stehlen is the proper word; klauen is what people say among friends.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: strong verb.