German Verb Conjugations - liegen (to lie, recline, rest) - In All Tenses

German Verb Conjugation

LIEGEN: Conjugated in All Tenses

Also see legen below!

The German verb liegen (to lie, recline, rest) conjugated in all its tenses and moods

PRESENT TENSE • PRÄSENS

Introduction
The irregular/strong verb liegen (lie) is often confused with the regular/weak verb legen (lay). If you have trouble with "lie" and "lay" in English, learning the German distinction will help you! See the legen chart below with examples of the contrast with liegen.

Principal Parts: liegen • lag • gelegen
Imperative (Commands): (du) Lieg(e)! | (ihr) Liegt! | Liegen Sie!

 

LIEGEN Present Tense - Präsens
DEUTSCH	ENGLISH
SINGULAR
ich liege	I lie/recline I am lying/reclining
du liegst	you lie/recline you are lying/reclining
er liegt    sie liegt    es liegt	he lies/reclines he is lying/reclining she lies/reclines she is lying/reclining it lies/reclines it is lying/reclining
PLURAL
wir liegen	we lie/recline we are lying/reclining
ihr liegt	you (guys) lie/recline you (guys) are lying/reclining
sie liegen	they lie/recline they are lying/reclining
Sie liegen	you lie/recline you are lying/reclining
Examples: Er liegt immer noch im Bett. He's still lying in bed. München liegt in Bayern. Munich lies [is] in Bavaria. Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. The book is (lying) on the table.
See more verbs in our 20 Most-Used German Verbs.

Principal Parts: legen • legte • gelegt

Imperative (Commands): (du) Leg(e)! | (ihr) Legt!

| Legen Sie!

NOTE: The weak German verb legen is similar to English "lay." But in German it can also mean "to put" something down (horizontally) or to "lay" something down. This contrasts with the strong verbliegen (above), which means to "lie" at rest, to "recline," or to "be situated" somewhere. If you mix the two up, it sounds very dumb in German!

 

LEGEN Present Tense - Präsens
DEUTSCH	ENGLISH
SINGULAR
ich lege	I lay/put I am laying/putting
du legst	you lay/put you are laying/putting
er legt    sie legt    es legt	he lays/puts he is laying/putting she lays/puts she is laying/putting it lays/puts it is laying/putting
PLURAL
wir legen	we lay/put we are laying/putting
ihr legt	you (guys) lay/put you (guys) are laying/putting
sie legen	they lay/put they are laying/putting
Sie legen	you lay/put you are laying/putting
Examples: Leg das Buch auf den Tisch. Put [lay] the book on the table.

Weak verbs all follow the same predictable pattern in the past that you see below:

LEGEN Past Tenses - Präsens
Simple Past	Compound Past
SINGULAR
ich/er legte I/he laid/put	ich habe gelegt I laid/put I have laid/put
PLURAL
wir/Sie/sie legten we/you/they laid/put	wir haben gelegt we laid/put we have laid/put

 

LIEGEN: Conjugated in All Tenses

The German verb liegen (to lie, recline, be situated) conjugated in all its tenses and moods

PAST TENSES • VERGANGENHEIT

 

LIEGEN Simple Past Tense - Imperfekt
DEUTSCH	ENGLISH
SINGULAR
ich lag	I laid/reclined
du lagst	you laid/reclined
er lag sie lag es lag	he laid/reclined she laid/reclined it laid/reclined
PLURAL
wir lagen	we laid/reclined
ihr lagt	you (guys) laid/reclined
sie lagen	they laid/reclined
Sie lagen	you laid/reclined

 

LIEGEN Compound Past Tense (Pres. Perfect) - Perfekt
DEUTSCH	ENGLISH
SINGULAR
ich habe gelegen	I have laid/reclined I laid/reclined
du hast gelegen	you have laid/reclined you laid/reclined
er hat gelegen   sie hat gelegen   es hat gelegen	he has laid/reclined he laid/reclined she has laid/reclined she laid/reclined it has laid/reclined it laid/reclined
PLURAL
wir haben gelegen	we have laid/reclined we laid/reclined
ihr habt gelegen	you (guys) have laid/reclined you laid/reclined
sie haben gelegen	they have laid/reclined they laid/reclined
Sie haben gelegen	you have laid/reclined you laid/reclined

 

LIEGEN Past Perfect Tense - Plusquamperfekt
DEUTSCH	ENGLISH
SINGULAR
ich hatte gelegen	I had laid/reclined
du hattest gelegen	you had laid/reclined
er hatte gelegen sie hatte gelegen es hatte gelegen	he had laid/reclined she had laid/reclined it had laid/reclined
PLURAL
wir hatten gelegen	we had laid/reclined
ihr hattet gelegen	you (guys) had laid/reclined
sie hatten gelegen	they had laid/reclined
Sie hatten gelegen	you had laid/reclined
NEXT > Future Tense See more verbs in our 20 Most-Used German Verbs.

20 Most-Used German Verbs

A ranked lhat of the most commonly used verbs.

German for Beginners - Contents