German Words for Beginners
    Verb

    zeichnen

    to draw

    Zeichnen (to draw) is the German verb for drawing with a pencil, pen, or other line tool. It covers sketching, drawing a picture, and technical drawing: ein Bild zeichnen (to draw a picture), einen Kreis zeichnen (to draw a circle). It is a regular (weak) verb, but its stem ends in -chn, which adds a small spelling wrinkle.

    Because the stem zeichn- ends in a consonant cluster, an extra e is inserted before the endings that would otherwise be hard to pronounce: ich zeichne, du zeichnest, er/sie/es zeichnet, wir zeichnen, ihr zeichnet, sie/Sie zeichnen. The du and er forms keep that e (zeichnest, not zeichnst). The perfect tense uses haben with the past participle gezeichnet: ich habe ein Haus gezeichnet (I drew a house).

    It helps to separate zeichnen from malen (to paint). Zeichnen is about lines and is what you do with a pencil or pen, while malen involves color and a brush or crayons. A child doing a crayon picture might use either word, but a pencil sketch is always zeichnen.

    Two useful related words come from this verb: die Zeichnung (the drawing) and der Zeichner (the illustrator or draftsman). In a more formal sense, zeichnen can also mean "to sign" or "to mark", which is why unterzeichnen means "to sign a document".

    Pronunciation: "TSY-shnen", with the z as a "ts" sound like in English "cats", and ei as the vowel in English "eye". Stress falls on the first syllable.

    Present tense conjugation of zeichnen

    English

    to draw

    ichzeichne
    duzeichnest
    er/sie/eszeichnet
    wirzeichnen
    ihrzeichnet
    sie/Siezeichnen

    Perfekt

    ich habe gezeichnet

    Partizip II

    gezeichnet

    Auxiliary

    haben
    Vocabulary lists with zeichnen

    zeichnen appears in the following vocabulary collections:

    Goethe A2 Verbs
    Goethe B1 Verbs
    Practice zeichnen in games
    Example Sentences

    • Er zeichnet heute im Park.

      He draws today in the park.

      Time comes before place.

    • Ich zeichne nicht oft.

      I do not draw often.

      Nicht comes before the adverb.

    • Ich zeichne ein Haus.

      I draw a house.

      Verb in Position 2.

    Frequently asked questions about zeichnen
    What does zeichnen mean in German?
    Zeichnen means "to draw" in German, specifically drawing with lines using a pencil or pen. It is used for sketches, pictures, and technical drawings: ich zeichne gern (I like to draw).
    How do you conjugate zeichnen in the present tense?
    Zeichnen is regular but inserts an extra e because its stem ends in a consonant cluster: ich zeichne, du zeichnest, er/sie/es zeichnet, wir zeichnen, ihr zeichnet, sie/Sie zeichnen. The du form is zeichnest, not zeichnst.
    Is zeichnen a regular or irregular verb?
    Zeichnen is a regular (weak) verb. It does not change its stem vowel, and the past participle is the predictable gezeichnet. The only twist is the inserted e in forms like zeichnest and zeichnet, which is a spelling rule, not an irregularity.
    What is the difference between zeichnen and malen?
    Zeichnen means drawing with lines, the kind of work you do with a pencil or pen. Malen means painting with color, using a brush or crayons. A pencil sketch is zeichnen; a watercolor is malen.
    What is the past participle of zeichnen?
    The past participle is gezeichnet (drawn). You use it with haben in the perfect tense: ich habe einen Baum gezeichnet (I drew a tree). The simple past form is zeichnete.