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German verb · CEFR A1

sagen

Meaning in English: say, tell

Rank 568 of 5,000verbLevel A14 forms in the list
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Example

Was wolltest du mir sagen?

What did you want to tell me?

Forms of sagen in the top 5,000

German verbs change their ending with the person and tense, and each form is counted on its own. These forms of sagen are also in the top 5,000:

sagte#146
saidA2

Sie sagte, sie komme später.
She said she would come later.

sagt#211
saysA1

Meine Mutter sagt, das Essen ist fertig.
My mother says dinner is ready.

gesagt#1,066
saidA1

Das hast du mir aber nicht gesagt!
But you didn't tell me that!

How common is sagen?

sagen is number 568 of the 5,000 most common German words. In the texts the list is counted from it appears 154 times per million words — about once every 6,500 words. Its most frequent form is sagte (#146).

Know every word down to this one and you recognise about 59% of the words in an ordinary German text. A1 means a beginner word, usually met in the first weeks of learning.

Next to it in the frequency list

  1. 564Inhaltecontents, content
  2. 565jedemevery, each (dative)
  3. 566die Sicherheitsafety, security
  4. 567häufigfrequent(ly), often
  5. 568sagensay, tell
  6. 569großbig, large, tall
  7. 570der Trainercoach, trainer
  8. 571schaffenmanage, make it; create
  9. 572informiereninform

In these word lists

Translations, levels and examples were written with AI help and are awaiting review by a native speaker — how the list was made.