Day 5: sein and haben

the two irregular verbs · adjectives after sein · haben where English says be · es gibt · kein · 25 min

These are the two most common verbs in German, they are both irregular, and they are also the machinery of the past tense on Day 25. Everything you build for the next 25 days sits on top of today.

Learn them as sound, not as a table. Say each row out loud six times before you move on. There is no clever way around these two.

1. sein — to be

⚠️ seid and sind are the pair people mix up.

• ihr seid — you (plural, informal) are — rhymes with side
• sie sind — they are / you (formal) are — rhymes with sinned

German sein is as irregular as English to be (am/are/is/was/were) and for the same historical reason. Recognising that it is the same kind of mess you already handle in English makes it stick faster than treating it as a German problem.

What sein is for

★ Good news: after sein, adjectives take no ending

Three genders, singular and plural — one form. Enjoy this. Adjectives that sit in front of a noun are a different story, and that story starts tomorrow.

2. haben — to have

★ haben is barely irregular — only du hast and er hat drop the b.Everything else is the regular Day 3 pattern. And English have / has drops exactly the same way. Two forms to memorise, not six.

3. ★★ Where German says haben and English says be

On Day 3 you learned that German agrees with English about age — Ich bin 25, not "I have 25 years". Today is the case that goes the other way, and it catches every English speaker.

⚠️ Ich bin hungrig is not how people speak. Ich habe Hunger. And Ich bin richtig means "I am correct-shaped", not "I'm right" — Ich habe Recht.

★ The pattern to hold on to: these are all nouns in German, not adjectives.Hunger, Durst, Angst, Recht, Glück are things you have, not ways you are.Once you see them as nouns, haben stops feeling strange.

4. es gibt — there is / there are

es gibt = "there is" and "there are". It never changes.

⚠️ Singular even when the thing is plural. English switches is → are; German does not. Es gibt viele Restaurants — never es geben.

You may notice einen Supermarkt above and wonder about the extra -en.That is the accusative case, it arrives on Day 11, and today you can simply treat es gibt einen… as a memorised phrase.

5. kein — the way German says "not a"

To negate a noun, German does not use nicht. It uses kein, which is just ein with a k on the front.

kein = "no / not a / not any". English needs three different shapes — no time, not a student, not any money — German uses one word for all of them.

⚠️ Do not say Ich habe nicht ein Auto. The full nicht vs kein split is Day 23; the short version that carries you until then is:

Negating a noun → kein. Negating anything else → nicht.Ich habe kein Geld. · Ich komme nicht.

6. Dialogue

Anna: Hast du Hunger? — HAST doo HOONG-uhAlex: Ja, ich habe großen Hunger! Und du?Anna: Nein, ich habe keinen Hunger, aber ich habe Durst.Alex: Gibt es hier ein Café? — GIPT es heer ine ka-FAYAnna: Ja, es gibt ein gutes Café dort. Es ist sehr schön.Alex: Bist du oft hier? — BIST doo OFT heerAnna: Nein, ich bin nicht oft hier. Ich habe keine Zeit.Alex: Wir sind beide sehr beschäftigt. — veer zint BY-duh zair buh-SHEF-tikhtAnna: Du hast Recht! — doo hast REKHT — You're right!

★ Notice Du hast Recht at the end. In English you are right; in German you have right. That one line is the whole of section 3.

7. Exercises

A. sein — fill in the form.

1. Ich ___ Student. 2. Du ___ nett. 3. Er ___ aus Berlin.
2. Wir ___ müde. 5. Ihr ___ jung. 6. Sie ___ Lehrerinnen. (they)

B. haben — fill in the form.

1. Ich ___ Zeit. 2. Du ___ ein Auto. 3. Sie ___ eine Schwester. (she)
2. Wir ___ Hunger. 5. Ihr ___ Glück. 6. Sie ___ Kinder. (they)

C. sein or haben?

1. Ich ___ 30 Jahre alt. 2. Ich ___ Durst. 3. Du ___ Recht.
2. Das ___ mein Bruder. 5. Wir ___ keine Zeit. 6. Sie ___ Ärztin.

D. ⚠️ Fix the English-speaker error.

1. Ich bin hungrig.
2. Ich bin richtig!
3. Es geben viele Restaurants hier.
4. Ich habe nicht ein Auto.
5. Ihr sind sehr nett.

E. Make it negative with kein.

1. Ich habe ein Auto. 2. Ich habe Zeit. 3. Er ist Student. 4. Wir haben eine Schwester.

F. Translate.

1. I'm hungry. 2. Are you thirsty? (du) 3. Is there a café here?
2. We're both students. 5. She has no time.

8. Today's 10 sentences (flashcards)

1. Ich bin müde. — I'm tired (ikh bin MEW-duh)
2. Bist du sicher? — Are you sure? (BIST doo ZIKH-uh)
3. Wir sind beide hier. — We're both here (veer zint BY-duh heer)
4. Ich habe Hunger. — I'm hungry (ikh HAH-buh HOONG-uh)
5. Ich habe Durst. — I'm thirsty (ikh HAH-buh DOORST)
6. Du hast Recht. — You're right (doo hast REKHT)
7. Ich habe keine Zeit. — I have no time (ikh HAH-buh KY-nuh TSITE)
8. Hast du Zeit? — Do you have time? (HAST doo TSITE)
9. Gibt es hier ein Café? — Is there a café here? (GIPT es heer ine ka-FAY)
10. Es gibt kein Problem. — There's no problem (es gipt kine pro-BLAYM)

9. 📲 Upload to LangNote

Upload section 1 and 2 (both verb tables), section 6 and section 8 → study language German.

★ Tomorrow is der / die / das — the hardest day of week 1, and the reason German has a reputation. It is also the day that makes Days 11 and 15 possible, so do not skip it.

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