The verb sein (in English - to be) is one of the most important verbs in German, like it probably is in every language. It is the first verb we learn and we use it in a lot of different situations.

When we start learning language, we learn how to introduce ourselves to someone and then we use the verb sein:

Ich bin Angelina. ----- I am Angelina.

Later in learning, we can see that we also use verb sein in making past tense of some verbs.

Ich bin gefallen . ------ I fell.

Let's see how the verb sein looks in present tense:

Singular:

1. ich bin
2. du bist
3. er/sie/es ist

Plural:

1. wir sind
2. ihr seid
3. sie/Sie sind

Another tense that is very used in German language is simple past tense called Präteritum. There is also a past tense that we mentioned before, that uses auxiliary verb and the form of the main verb, but for the verb sein that we are talking about now, that tense is almost never used.

Let's see how Präteritum of verb sein looks like:

Singular:

1. ich war
2. du warst
3. er/sie/es war

Plural:

1. wir waren
2. ihr wart
3. sie/Sie waren

So, here are a few examples of this tense:

Mein Onkel war gestern krank. ---------------- My uncle was sick yesterday.

Sie waren gute Schüler. -------------------- They were good students.

Make sure to remember these forms because you will use the verb sein in almost every conversation in German you have! 😃