Kochen is a fully weak (regular) verb that covers two English verbs at once: "to cook" (prepare food by heating) and "to boil" (reach or be at boiling point). Which meaning you get depends entirely on whether there is an accusative object. Ich koche Suppe is transitive — "I'm cooking soup." Das Wasser kocht is intransitive — "the water is boiling." This one verb, two readings split is the most important thing for an English speaker to internalise, because English keeps cook and boil as separate words.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Präteritum | Partizip II (auxiliary) |
|---|---|---|
| kochen | kochte | gekocht (hat) |
Read this as kochen – kochte – hat gekocht. Everything is regular: the past adds the weak -te, and the participle is ge- + koch + -t. The Perfekt auxiliary is haben in both senses — even the intransitive "the water boiled" is Das Wasser hat gekocht, because kochen describes an ongoing activity/process, not a change of location.
Präsens (present)
The stem is koch- in every person.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | koche |
| du | kochst |
| er / sie / es | kocht |
| wir | kochen |
| ihr | kocht |
| sie / Sie | kochen |
There is no vowel change and no linking -e-. Just plain du kochst, er kocht.
Heute koche ich, morgen bist du dran.
I'm cooking today, you're up tomorrow. (informal; transitive, object implied)
Pass auf, das Wasser kocht schon!
Watch out, the water's already boiling! (intransitive — no object)
Präteritum (simple past)
The weak past stem is kochte-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | kochte |
| du | kochtest |
| er / sie / es | kochte |
| wir | kochten |
| ihr | kochtet |
| sie / Sie | kochten |
Meine Oma kochte jeden Sonntag einen riesigen Topf Gulasch.
My grandma cooked a huge pot of goulash every Sunday. (narrative)
See the weak Präteritum. In conversation you would normally use the Perfekt.
Perfekt (present perfect)
Everyday past: present of haben + the participle gekocht.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe gekocht |
| du | hast gekocht |
| er / sie / es | hat gekocht |
| wir | haben gekocht |
| ihr | habt gekocht |
| sie / Sie | haben gekocht |
Wer hat denn diese fantastische Suppe gekocht?
So who cooked this fantastic soup? (informal)
The participle is the model weak shape ge-koch-t. See the weak participle.
Plusquamperfekt (past perfect)
Past auxiliary (hatte) + gekocht.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte gekocht |
| du | hattest gekocht |
| er / sie / es | hatte gekocht |
| wir | hatten gekocht |
| ihr | hattet gekocht |
| sie / Sie | hatten gekocht |
Als die Gäste kamen, hatte er das Essen schon fertig gekocht.
By the time the guests arrived, he had already finished cooking the meal.
Futur I and Futur II
Werden + infinitive (Futur I) or werden + Partizip II + haben (Futur II).
| Person | Futur I | Futur II |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde kochen | werde gekocht haben |
| du | wirst kochen | wirst gekocht haben |
| er / sie / es | wird kochen | wird gekocht haben |
| wir | werden kochen | werden gekocht haben |
| ihr | werdet kochen | werdet gekocht haben |
| sie / Sie | werden kochen | werden gekocht haben |
Am Wochenende werde ich endlich mal wieder richtig kochen.
This weekend I'm finally going to cook properly again.
Imperativ (commands)
Regular. The -e on the du-command is optional.
| Addressee | Form |
|---|---|
| du | Koch(e)! |
| ihr | Kocht! |
| Sie | Kochen Sie! |
Koch den Reis nur zehn Minuten, sonst wird er matschig.
Only boil the rice for ten minutes, otherwise it gets mushy. (informal du-command)
Konjunktiv II (would / hypothetical)
For a weak verb, the synthetic Konjunktiv II equals the Präteritum (kochte), so German prefers the würde-form for clarity.
| Person | Synthetic (= Präteritum) | würde-form (more common) |
|---|---|---|
| ich | kochte | würde kochen |
| du | kochtest | würdest kochen |
| er / sie / es | kochte | würde kochen |
| wir | kochten | würden kochen |
| ihr | kochtet | würdet kochen |
| sie / Sie | kochten | würden kochen |
An deiner Stelle würde ich heute einfach etwas Schnelles kochen.
If I were you, I'd just cook something quick today. (würde-form)
Usage and government
When transitive, kochen takes the accusative: Suppe kochen, Kaffee kochen, das Mittagessen kochen. See accusative functions. When intransitive, it describes a liquid that is at boiling point and takes no object — see transitive vs intransitive.
A few register notes worth knowing: Germans say Kaffee kochen and Tee kochen ("make coffee/tea"), where English uses "make" or "brew." And note the contrast with essen: you kochen the meal, then you essen it.
Ich koche uns schnell einen Kaffee, dann reden wir weiter.
I'll quickly make us a coffee, then we'll keep talking. (informal; Kaffee kochen = make coffee)
Common idioms and fixed expressions
| Expression | English |
|---|---|
| Kaffee / Tee kochen | to make coffee / tea |
| vor Wut kochen | to be seething with rage |
| etwas auf kleiner Flamme kochen | to simmer; figuratively, to keep on the back burner |
| Es kocht in mir. | I'm boiling (inside) with anger. |
| Auch die kochen nur mit Wasser. | They put their trousers on one leg at a time too. (they're nothing special) |
Als sie das hörte, kochte sie vor Wut.
When she heard that, she was seething with rage. (figurative)
Keine Sorge, die kochen auch nur mit Wasser.
Don't worry, they're really no better than anyone else. (idiom)
Common Mistakes
❌ Das Wasser ist gekocht.
Wrong auxiliary for the process reading — kochen takes haben even when intransitive: das Wasser hat gekocht.
✅ Das Wasser hat gekocht.
The water boiled / has been boiling.
❌ Ich koche das Wasser, dann mache ich Tee.
Reading mismatch — with an accusative object kochen means 'bring to the boil' (you do it to the water); to say the water is boiling on its own, drop the object: das Wasser kocht.
✅ Das Wasser kocht, dann mache ich Tee.
The water's boiling, then I'll make tea.
❌ Ich koche eine Pizza im Ofen.
Wrong verb — a pizza in the oven is backen (bake), not kochen, which implies cooking in liquid/on the stove.
✅ Ich backe eine Pizza im Ofen.
I'm baking a pizza in the oven.
❌ Gestern kochte mir meine Mutter.
Missing object and wrong dative — to cook for someone, the person is dative and the dish is the object: meine Mutter hat mir etwas gekocht.
✅ Gestern hat meine Mutter mir etwas Leckeres gekocht.
Yesterday my mother cooked me something delicious.
Key Takeaways
- Principal parts: kochen – kochte – hat gekocht — a fully regular weak verb.
- With an accusative object it means "cook" (Suppe kochen); with no object it means "boil" (das Wasser kocht).
- Perfekt is with haben in both senses — even das Wasser hat gekocht.
- Germans Kaffee/Tee kochen (make coffee/tea); food in the oven is backen, not kochen.
- Figuratively, vor Wut kochen means "to be seething with rage."
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