German Verb Conjugation
KENNEN: Fully Conjugated
This page is also part of Lesson 16 of German for Beginners and the German Verb Conjugator.
In the following chart you will find the conjugation of the irregular German verb kennen (to know).
German, like many other languages, has two different verbs that can correspond to the single English verb "to know." Like Spanish, Italian and French, for example, German makes a distinction between knowing or being familiar with a person or thing (kennen) AND knowing a fact (wissen).
The verb kennen is a so-called "mixed" verb. That is to say, the infinitive's stem vowel e changes to a in the past tense (kannte) and the past participle (gekannt). It is called "mixed" because this form of conjugation reflects some traits of a regular verb (e.g., normal present tense endings and a ge- past participle with a -t ending) and some traits of a strong or irregular verb (e.g., a stem-vowel change in the past and past participle).
This verb chart uses the new German spelling (die neue Rechtschreibung).
Modals > wissen | kennen | Strong (Irregular) Verbs
| Irregular Verbs - kennen | ||
| PRÄSENS (Present) |
PRÄTERITUM (Preterite/Past) |
PERFEKT (Pres. Perfect) |
| KENNEN - to know (a person) SINGULAR | ||
| ich kenne (ihn) I know (him) |
ich kannte I knew |
ich habe gekannt I knew, have known |
| du kennst you know |
du kanntest you knew |
du hast gekannt you knew, have known |
| er/sie kennt he/she knows |
er/sie kannte he/she knew |
er/sie hat gekannt he/she knew, has known |
| KENNEN - to know (a person) PLURAL | ||
| wir/Sie*/sie kennen we/you/they know |
wir/Sie*/sie kannten we/you/they knew |
wir/Sie*/sie haben gekannt we/you/they knew, have known |
| ihr kennt you (pl.) know |
ihr kanntet you (pl.) knew |
ihr habt gekannt you (pl.) knew, have known |
| * Although "Sie" (formal "you") is always conjugated as a plural verb, it can refer to one or more persons. Sample Sentences/Idioms with kennen Er kennt mich nicht. He doesn't know me. Ich habe sie gar nicht gekannt. I didn't know her at all. More kennen examples in Lektion 16B NEXT > Part 2 - More kennen conjugations Copyright © 2001-2006 german.about.com |
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BACK > Lektion 16 of German for Beginners
Also see: wissen (to know a fact)
Quiz: to know
Test yourself on the "to know" verbs in German.
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