kennenlernen: Full Conjugation and Usage

Kennenlernen ("to get to know, to meet for the first time") is one of the most socially useful verbs in German — you reach for it whenever you describe how you met someone or first encountered something. It is a separable weak verb built from lernen ("to learn") plus the verb kennen ("to be acquainted with") functioning as a separable element. Two features make it tricky for English speakers: the parts split apart in main clauses, and there is no single English word that maps onto it cleanly. English uses meet for both "encounter for the first time" and "have an appointment with" — German splits these, and kennenlernen covers only the first.

Principal parts

Read this as kennenlernen – lernte … kennen – hat kennengelernt. Two orthographic facts matter. First, the infinitive is written as one word: kennenlernen (the 1996/2006 spelling reform allows kennen lernen too, but one word is now standard and is what you should write). Second, the participle is also one word with -ge- in the middle: kennengelernt, never gekennenlernt and never kennen gelernt in the Perfekt. The Perfekt auxiliary is haben, because this is a transitive verb with an accusative object, not a verb of motion.

Why it splits: the separable mechanism

In a main clause, the kennen element behaves like a separable prefix — it detaches and travels to the very end of the clause, while the conjugated lernen part stays in second position. Everything the sentence says about when, where, and whom gets sandwiched between them. This bracket (the Satzklammer) is the single most important structural fact about the verb.

In subordinate clauses, the two parts rejoin at the end and are written as one word again:

For the full mechanism, see Separable Verbs: How They Split.

Präsens (present)

The endings are completely regular (weak verb); only the position of kennen changes.

Präteritum (simple past)

Weak, so the past marker is -te, added to the lernen stem. The kennen element still detaches in a main clause.

Perfekt (present perfect)

This is the form you will use most in conversation. Auxiliary haben + the participle kennengelernt (one word, -ge- in the middle).

Plusquamperfekt (past perfect)

Past auxiliary hatte + kennengelernt.

Futur I

werden + the infinitive kennenlernen (which goes to the clause end as one word).

Konjunktiv II (would)

Formed with würde + the infinitive kennenlernen. A synthetic form (lernte … kennen) is identical to the Präteritum, so the würde form is preferred to avoid ambiguity.

The zu-form and infinitive constructions

When kennenlernen needs zu (after um … zu, ohne … zu, or verbs like versuchen), the zu slots between the two parts: kennenzulernen — written as one word.

Usage and government

Kennenlernen is transitive and takes a direct object in the accusative — the person or thing you come to know. It marks the first encounter or the beginning of acquaintance; it does not mean "to meet up with someone you already know" (that is treffen or sich treffen). Compare with the stative verb kennen, which describes the resulting state of being acquainted, and with treffen for arranged meetings. See also Verb Government.

It is frequently used reflexively in the reciprocal sense ("to get to know each other"): sich kennenlernen.

Common idioms and fixed expressions

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Principal parts: kennenlernen – lernte … kennen – hat kennengelernt (Perfekt with haben).
• Separable: kennen detaches in main clauses (Ich lerne sie kennen), rejoins in subordinate clauses.
• Participle is one word with -ge- inside: kennengelernt (never gekennenlernt).
• The zu-form inserts zu inside: kennenzulernen.
• Takes the accusative; means a first encounter — use treffen for meeting people you already know.