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fluentbyear

GERMAN VERB

vorlesen

to read out, to read aloud

  • #272 most used
  • Strong verb
  • Past participle: vorgelesen

Conjugation

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

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

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

Simple past

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

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

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

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

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

Imperative

Imperativ · requests and orders: du, ihr, Sie

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

How to use vorlesen

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

  1. Present

    Jeden Abend lese ich meiner Tochter eine Geschichte vor.

    Every evening I read my daughter a story.

  2. Simple past

    Opa las uns früher immer aus der Zeitung vor.

    Grandpa always used to read to us from the newspaper.

  3. Perfect

    Hast du den Brief schon allen vorgelesen?

    Have you read the letter out to everyone yet?

  4. Future

    Ich werde euch das Gedicht gleich vorlesen.

    I'll read the poem out to you in a minute.

  5. Conditional

    Würdest du mir bitte die Speisekarte vorlesen?

    Would you please read me the menu?

  6. Imperative

    Lies mal laut vor, ich höre zu.

    Read it out loud, I'm listening.

Good to know

  • The person you read to is in the dative: Ich lese den Kindern eine Geschichte vor.

Where you hear vorlesen

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

German · Advanced Level 3

  • Ich lese dir den Brief vor. I'll read you the letter.
  • Ich habe den Brief vorgelesen. I read the letter out.
  • Morgen lese ich es dir vor. Tomorrow I'll read it to you.

German · Fluency Level 2

  • Ich lese dir den Brief vor. I'll read you the letter.
  • Ich habe den Brief vorgelesen. I read the letter out.
  • Morgen lese ich es dir vor. Tomorrow I'll read it to you.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: strong verb.