The irregular verb "fahren" in German
Meaning of "fahren" in German
The verb "fahren" means:
1.-to drive, to go in a car, to ride a bike, to ride a motorcycle
Ich fahre ein altes Auto
I drive an old car
Intransitive case structure:
fahren + nach + dative (to drive to a country or city without an article)
ich fahre nach Berlin
I’m driving to Berlin (in a car,...)
fahren + in + accusative (to drive to a country or city with an article)
ich fahre in die Schweiz
I’m going to Switzerland
fahren + zu + dative (to drive to a person or place with a name)
Ich fahre gerade zu dir
I’m driving to you right now
fahren + von + dative (to drive from)
Ich fahre von der Schweiz
I’m driving from Switzerland
fahren + mit + [dative]
Er fährt gern mit dem Bus
He likes to ride the bus
fahren + um + [accusative]
Der letzte Bus fährt um 11 Uhr
The last bus leaves at 11
Transitive case structure:
fahren + [accusative]
Ich fahre einen SUV
I’m driving a 4x4
Pronunciation: [ˈfaːrən]
The difference between "fahren" and "gehen"
The verbs "fahren" and "gehen" mean to go but gehen refers to walking and fahren refers to using a type of vehicle:
Grammar of "fahren"
"fahren" is an irregular verb.
| Verb | 3rd Person | Präteritum | Partizip II | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| fahren | fährt | fuhr | gefahren | to drive |
Auxiliary verb of "fahren"
"fahren" uses sein as auxiliary verb if the sentence is intransitive. If the sentence is transitive, "fahren" uses haben as auxiliary verb.
Intransitive (without accusative):
Ich bin nach Italien gefahren
I drove to Italy
Transitive (with accusative):
Ich habe immer Mercedes gefahren
I´ve always driven Mercedes
Conjugation of "fahren"
Present simple (Präsens Indikativ)
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich fahre | I drive |
| du fährst | you drive |
| er fährt | he drives |
| wir fahren | we drive |
| ihr fahrt | you drive |
| sie fahren | they drive |
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich bin gefahren | I have driven |
| du bist gefahren | you have driven |
| er ist gefahren | he has driven |
| wir sind gefahren | we have driven |
| ihr seid gefahren | you have driven |
| sie sind gefahren | they have driven |
Simple past (Präteritum)
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich fuhr | I drove |
| du fuhrst | you drove |
| er fuhr | he drove |
| wir fuhren | we drove |
| ihr fuhrt | you drove |
| sie fuhren | they drove |
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II)
| Conjugation |
|---|
| ich führe |
| du führst |
| er führe |
| wir führen |
| ihr führt |
| sie führen |
Participle (Partizip)
| Partizip I | Partizip II |
|---|---|
| fahrend (driving) | gefahren (driven) |
Imperative (Imperativ)
| Person | Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd person singular | fahr fahre (formal) | drive |
| 2nd person plural | fahrt | drive |
| Polite form | fahren Sie | drive |
Verbs with the stem "fahren"
There are hundreds of verbs with the stem "fahren". Their meaning often depends on the context. We´ll show you the main ones:
| Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| abfahren | to leave, to exit (separable verb) |
| anfahren | to run over something/someone to approach (separable verb) |
| ausfahren | to move out to cross over (separable verb) |
| durchfahren | to pass through go over (separable verb) |
| erfahren | to experience (inseparable verb) |
| hochfahren | to drive up (separable verb) |
| losfahren | to depart, to leave (separable verb) |
| mitfahren | to go with someone (in a car) (separable verb) |
| nachfahren | follow a car (separable verb) |
| überfahren | to run someone over (inseparable verb) |
| verfahren | to have taken a wrong turn (inseparable verb) |
| zurückfahren | to return (separable verb) |
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