The verb "sein" (to be)

Sein is the German verb for to be — and it's one of the very first verbs you need, because it shows up everywhere: introducing yourself, saying where you're from, describing people and things. Like to be in English, it's irregular, so its forms don't follow the usual pattern and just need to be learned.

Quick shortcut: ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist, wir sind, ihr seid, sie/Sie sind.

Conjugating sein

In the middle of a sentence, sie = they and Sie = the formal you. At the start of a sentence both are written Sie, so only context tells them apart there: Heute sind sie aus Berlin. (Today they are from Berlin.) Heute sind Sie aus Berlin? (Today, are you from Berlin?) And du bist and er/sie/es ist look similar but are not interchangeable: ✅ du bist for you, never ❌ du ist.

What sein is used for

Sein links the subject of a sentence to information about that subject — a name, a job, an origin, a quality, a location. It works like English to be in these common cases, though not in every English "I am …" sentence (I am cold is Mir ist kalt, for example — a different pattern you'll meet separately):

• Naming and identifying: Ich bin Anna. (I am Anna.)
• Jobs and roles: Sie ist Ärztin. (She is a doctor.) With jobs and roles, German usually leaves out the article: ✅ Er ist Lehrer, not ❌ Er ist ein Lehrer (unlike English, which needs a teacher).
• Origin: Wir sind aus Spanien. (We are from Spain.)
• Describing qualities: Das Wetter ist schön. (The weather is nice.)
• Location: Der Schlüssel ist auf dem Tisch. (The key is on the table.)

Word order

In a simple German statement, the conjugated verb — here, a form of sein — normally goes in second position. Second position means the second grammatical element, not necessarily the second word, so a sentence can start with something other than the subject and the verb still comes right after it:

• Ich bin heute müde. (subject first)
• Heute bin ich müde. (time expression first — the verb still comes second, and ich moves after it)

Both sentences mean roughly the same thing; in a main statement like these, the conjugated verb stays in second place, even when a time expression or something else opens the sentence instead of the subject. (You'll meet this word-order rule as its own topic — for now, it helps to see that bin follows directly after whatever opens the sentence.)

For yes/no questions, sein moves to the very front: Bist du müde? (Are you tired?) Ist er Lehrer? (Is he a teacher?)

Common mistakes

• ❌ Ich ist müde. → ✅ Ich bin müde. (ist is only for er/sie/es, not ich)
• ❌ Du ist nett. → ✅ Du bist nett. (bist goes with du, not ist)
• ❌ Wir ist Freunde. → ✅ Wir sind Freunde. (wir always takes sind)
• ❌ Er sind Lehrer. → ✅ Er ist Lehrer. (don't confuse the plural sind with the singular ist)

Quick check

Which form is correct?

1. Ich ____ (bin / bist) Student.
2. Du ____ (ist / bist) sehr freundlich.
3. Wir ____ (sind / ist) aus Deutschland.
4. Sie (she) ____ (ist / sind) Ärztin.
5. Ihr ____ (seid / sind) meine besten Freunde.

Key takeaways

• Sein (to be) is irregular: ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist, wir sind, ihr seid, sie/Sie sind.
• It links the subject to a name, job, origin, quality, or location — much like to be in English (though not every English "I am …" sentence works the same way, e.g. I am cold = Mir ist kalt).
• Sie and sie share the verb form sind; mid-sentence, capitalization tells them apart — at the start of a sentence, only context does.
• The conjugated verb stays in second position in a statement, even when something other than the subject opens the sentence.
• For yes/no questions, sein moves to the very front of the sentence.