Trouble with HABEN? Learn it with CHUNKS, never forget it again (Conjugation)

VANESSA
Und welche Haarfarbe hat er?
(And which hair color does he have?)

DENISA
Er ist blond. Aber du hast deine Haare gefärbt, oder?
(He is blonde. But you have dyed your hair, right?)

VANESSA
Ja. Ich habe jetzt pinke Haare.
(Yes. I have pink hair now.)

DENISA
Sieht gut aus.
(Looks good.)

VANESSA
Danke.
(Thanks.)

In this dialogue the girls talk about hair colors. They use the verb “haben” (to have) a lot. But how do you conjugate this irregular verb? Let’s learn it in this video. Ich bin Denisa von Spring German.

Hier ist die erste Konjugation des Verbes. (Here is the verb’s first conjugation of the verb.)

1. Ich habe (I have)

DENISA
Ich habe Bock, heute tanzen zu gehen. Und du?
(I’m in the mood to go dancing today. What about you?)

VANESSA
Ich auch. Lass uns in eine Bar gehen.
(Me too. Let’s go to a bar.)

DENISA
Ja. Ich habe schon eine Idee. Wir können in die Bar „Trick” gehen. Hast du Bock?
(Yes. I already have an idea. We could go to the bar “Trick”. Are you up for it?)

VANESSA
Und wie ich Bock habe. Das hört sich gut an.
(I’m very up for it. That sounds good.)

Chunk alert!

“Ich habe Bock” (I’m in the mood) can be translated as “to be in the mood for something” but also as “to feel like something” or “to be up for something”. It’s colloquial and a synonym for “Ich habe Lust” (I’m in the mood). Literally this means “to have the desire to do something”.

This chunk often used by native speakers. Ich habe Bock zu tanzen, zu kochen und zu singen. (I’m in the mood for dancing, cooking and singing.) The great thing is that you don’t have to learn the grammar behind it. Instead of it you can just learn the chunk as a whole. This way you already conjugated the verb “haben” (to have) correctly.

For more chunks like this, check our free essential German chunking kit. The link is in the description.

2. Du hast (You have)

DENISA
Hallo. Ich würde gerne das Buch “Der Vorleser” kaufen.
(Hello. I would like to buy the book “Der Vorleser”.)

FRAU MÜLLER
Du hast Glück! Das ist unser letztes Exemplar.
(You are lucky! That’s our last copy.)

DENISA
Cool. Normalerweise habe ich nie Glück. Das Buch ist oft ausverkauft.
(Cool. Normally I am not that lucky. The book is often sold.)

FRAU MÜLLER
Jetzt schon. Hier hast du es.
(Now you are. Here you have it.)

“Du hast Glück” (you are lucky) means “you are lucky”, using the conjugated form of haben (to have).

Other phrases are:

• Du hast Lust zu tanzen. (You are in the mood for dancing.)
• Du hast Hunger. (You are hungry.)
• Du hast Zeit. (You have time.)

3. Er/Sie/Es hat (He/She/It has)

DENISA
Meinst du, er hat heute Zeit?
(Do you think he has free time today?)

VANESSA
Ich rufe ihn mal an.
(I’ll call him.)

Hey, hast du heute Abend Zeit?
(Hey, do you have some free time this evening?)

Denisa und ich wollen tanzen gehen.
(Denisa and I want to go dancing.)

Cool.
(Cool.)

DENISA
Was hat er gesagt?
(What did he say?)

VANESSA
Er hat Zeit und Lust.
(He has free time and he is up for it.)

“Hat” (has) is the conjugation for the third person singular. Other phrases with “er hat” (he has) are:

• Er hat Angst. (He is afraid.)
• Er hat Hunger. (He is hungry.)
• Er hat Lust, tanzen zu gehen. (He is in the mood for dancing.)

Stay tuned, because at the end of this video we will do a summary.

4. Wir haben (We have)

VANESSA
Was habt ihr denn? Ihr seid so schlecht gelaunt.?
(What is going on? YAre you are in a bad mood.)

DENISA
Nein. Wir haben nur Hunger.
(No. We are just hungry.)

VANESSA
Ich habe noch Spaghetti im Kühlschrank.
(I have spaghetti in the fridge.)

DENISA
Cool. Darauf haben wir Lust. Danke.
(Coo. We’re in the mood for it. Thanks.)

Here you can see that the conjugated form of “haben” (to have) is the same form as the infinitive: Wir haben (We have). Easy, right?

Other examples are:

• Wir haben einen Bruder. (We have a brother.)
• Wir haben Zeit. (We have time.)
• Wir haben Durst. (We are thirsty.)

5. Ihr habt (You have)

VANESSA
Ihr habt am Montag frei, oder?
(You are off on Monday, right?)

DENISA
Ja. Wir haben uns Urlaub genommen, um über’s Wochenende in die Alpen zu fahren.
(Yes. We took a vacation to go to the Alps for the weekend.)

VANESSA
Wow, habt ihr ein Glück. Viel Spaß!
(Wow, you are so lucky. Have fun!)

“Glück haben” (to be lucky) means literally “to have luck” but can be translated as “to be lucky”.

Other phrases with “ihr habt” (you have) are:

• Ihr habt Angst. (You are afraid.)
• Ihr habt zwei Schwestern. (You have 2 sisters.)
• Ihr habt Hunger. (You are hungry.)

6. Sie haben (They have)

VANESSA
Haben Leon und Mathilda uns vergessen?
(Did Leon and Mathilda forget us?)

DENISA
Nein. Sie haben nur die Angewohnheit, zu spät zu kommen.
(No. They have the habit to come late.)

VANESSA
Haben sie dir eine Nachricht geschrieben?
(Did they write you a message?)

DENISA
Ja. Sie haben geschrieben, dass sie in fünf Minuten da sind.
(Yes. They wrote that they will be here in 5 minutes.)

“Sie haben die Angewohnheit” (The have the habit) means “They have the habit to do somethingth”. You see, with “sie” (they) the verb is conjugated like the infinitive.

Other examples are:

• Sie haben Hunger. (They are hungry.)
• Sie haben Zeit. (They have time.)
• Sie haben Angst. (They are afraid.)

7. Summary

Here’s a conjugation table for the verb “haben” (to have). But remember that the best way to learn verb conjugations is with chunks.