haben
German, verb
haben is spelled H-A-B-E-N (5 letters) and appears 2,818 times per million words in written German, the 53rd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Haben is a German verb meaning “forms the perfect aspect (have)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Haben is a different word: “credit”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “Hilfsverb zur Bildung zusammengesetzter Tempora”.
What does haben mean in English?
verb
- 1
forms the perfect aspect (have)
Das habe ich nicht gesagt.
- 2
to have; to own (to possess, have ownership of; to possess a certain characteristic)
Ich habe ein Auto.
- 3
to have; to hold (to contain within itself/oneself)
Glaub und hab keine Angst.
- 4
to have, get (to obtain, acquire)
- 5
to get (to receive)
- 6
to have (to be scheduled to attend)
Morgen Nachmittag habe ich eine Vorlesung.
- 7
to have (to be afflicted with, suffer from)
Er hat Krebs.
- 8
to contain, be composed of, equal
Ein Meter hat 100 Zentimeter.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of haben
- 2
neutercredit
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Gesamtheit der Einnahmen und des Besitzes, Guthaben
verb: 1. Hilfsverb zur Bildung zusammengesetzter Tempora 2. eine Sache besitzen 3. (eine Sache kann) etwas enthalten 4. etwas tun müssen, zur Erfüllung einer Aufgabe / zum Vollzug einer Tätigkeit gezwungen oder verpflichtet sein
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of haben
- hat present singular third-person
- hatte past
- gehabt participle past
- hätte past subjunctive
- habend participle present
- habe first-person indicative present
- hast indicative present second-person
- habt indicative plural present
- habest second-person singular subjunctive
- habet plural second-person subjunctive
- hatten first-person indicative plural
- hätten first-person plural subjunctive
- hattest indicative preterite second-person
- hattet indicative plural preterite
- hättest second-person singular subjunctive
- hättet plural second-person subjunctive
- hab imperative second-person singular
- habe gehabt first-person indicative multiword-construction
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to haben
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is haben in German?
haben appears 2,818 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).