Starke Verben - Strong Verbs - A-F INFINITIV AAA anfangen begin ankommen arrive anrufen call up BBB backen

bake befehlen command beginnen begin beien bite bekommen get, receive bergen salvage bersten burst betrgen deceive biegen bend bieten offer binden tie bitten request blasen blow backte baked befahl commanded begann began biss bit bekam got barg salvaged barst burst betrog deceived bog bent bot offered band tied bat requested blies blew gebacken baked befohlen commanded begonnen begun gebissen bitten bekommen gotten geborgen salvaged geborsten burst betrogen deceived gebogen bent geboten offered gebunden tied gebeten requested geblasen blown fing an began kam an arrived rief an called up angefangen begun ist angekommen arrived angerufen called up PRTERITUM (Preterite) PERFEKT (Past Participle)

See the ablaut groups for learning the various patterns (a-ie-a, a-u-a, e-a-o, etc.) of German strong verbs. bleiben stay bleichen bleach braten roast brechen break brennen* burn bringen* bring blieb stayed blich bleached briet roasted brach broke brannte burned brachte brought ist geblieben stayed geblichen bleached gebraten roasted gebrochen broken gebrannt burned gebracht brought

*Both brennen and bringen are "mixed" verbs, combining elements of strong and weak verbs. For more see our Mixed Verbs page. DDD denken* think dachte thought gedacht thought

*The verb denken is a "mixed" verb, combining elements of strong and weak verbs. For more see our Mixed Verbs page. dreschen thresh dringen force drfen may drosch threshed drang forced durfte was allowed gedroschen threshed gedrungen forced gedurft* been allowed

*Used with an infinitive, as for all modals, the past participle is the infinitive drfen: "Wir haben nicht gehen drfen." EEE empfangen receive empfehlen recommend erfinden invent erlschen extinguish erschallen echo, sound erschrecken* scare empfing received empfahl recommended erfand invented erlosch extinguished erscholl sounded erschrak scared empfangen received empfohlen recommended erfunden invented erloschen extinguished erschollen sounded erschrocken scared

*This verb has both strong (passive) and weak (active) forms: "Ich habe ihn erschreckt." (I scared him.) and "Ich erschrak bei der Explosion." (I was startled/scared by the explosion.) essen eat FFF fahren travel fallen fall fangen catch fechten fence finden find fliegen fly fliehen flee flieen flow fressen gorge frieren freeze fuhr traveled fiel fell fing caught focht fenced fand found flog flew floh fled floss flowed fra gorged fror froze ist gefahren traveled ist gefallen fallen gefangen caught gefochten fenced gefunden found ist geflogen flown ist geflohen fled ist geflossen flowed gefressen gorged gefroren* frozen a ate gegessen eaten

*The verb frieren takes the helping verb haben or sein, depending on its meaning. In most cases ("to be cold") it is "hat gefroren," but in the meaning of "to freeze, turn into ice," it is "Der Boden / Das Wasser ist steif gefroren." (The ground / water has frozen solid.) frohlocken rejoice frohlockte rejoiced frohlockt rejoiced Starke Verben - Strong Verbs - G-M

INFINITIV G gren ferment gebren bear (child) geben give gedeihen flourish gefallen be pleasing, like gehen go gelingen succeed gelten be valid genesen recover genieen enjoy geschehen happen gewinnen win gieen pour gleichen resemble gleiten glide, slide glimmen glow, smoulder graben dig greifen grasp H haben have

PRTERITUM (Preterite) gor fermented gebar bore gab gave gedieh flourished gefiel liked ging went gelang succeeded galt was valid genas recovered geno enjoyed geschah happened gewann won go poured glich resembled glitt glided glomm* glowed

PERFEKT (Past Participle) gegoren fermented geboren born gegeben given ist gediehen flourished gefallen liked ist gegangen gone ist gelungen succeeded gegolten been valid genesen recovered genossen enjoyed ist geschehen happened gewonnen won gegossen poured geglichen resembled ist geglitten glided ist geglommen* glowed

*Also glimmte and hat geglimmt (weak) grub dug griff grasped hatte had gegraben dug gegriffen grasped gehabt had

For the complete conjugation of the verb haben in the present tense, see Lesson 4 of German for Beginners. halten hold hngen hang hielt held hing hung/hanged* gehalten held gehangen hung/hanged*

*The verb hngen is weak in transitive situations ("Er hngte das Bild an die Wand.") and strong in intransitive situations ("Das Bild hing an der Wand."). hauen hew, hit haute* hit gehauen hit *The strong past form hieb is used when the meaning is "struck (him) with a weapon."

heben lift heien be called helfen help

hob lifted hie named half helped

gehoben lifted geheien named geholfen helped

See the ablaut groups for learning the various patterns (a-u-a, e-a-o, etc.) of German strong verbs. K kennen* know kannte knew gekannt known *The verb kennen is a "mixed" verb, combining elements of strong and weak verbs. For more see our Mixed Verbs page. klingen ring kneifen pinch kommen come knnen can kriechen crawl L laden load lassen let, allow laufen run leiden suffer leihen lend lesen read liegen* lie lgen lie M mahlen grind meiden avoid messen measure misslingen fail mgen like mssen must mahlte ground mied avoided ma measured misslang failed mochte liked musste had to gemahlen ground gemieden avoided gemessen measured misslungen failed gemocht* liked gemusst* had to lud loaded lie let lief ran litt suffered lieh lent las read lag lay log lied geladen loaded gelassen let ist gelaufen run gelitten suffered geliehen lent gelesen read gelegen lain gelogen lied klang rang kniff pinched kam came konnte could kroch crawled geklungen rung gekniffen pinched ist gekommen come gekonnt* could ist gekrochen crawled

*With an infinitive, the past participle is knnen: "Ich habe nicht gehen knnen."

*Do not confuse liegen (lie, recline, strong) and (sich) legen (lay, put, weak)!

*With an infinitive, the past participle is mgen: "Sie hat nicht gehen mgen." *Used with an infinitive, as with all modals, the past participle is the infinitive mssen: "Wir

haben nicht gehen mssen." Starke Verben - Strong Verbs - N-Schw INFINITIV N nehmen take nennen name P pfeifen whistle preisen praise Q quellen gush R raten advise reiben rub reien tear reiten* ride riet advised rieb rubbed riss tore ritt rode geraten advised gerieben rubbed gerissen torn ist geritten ridden quoll* gushed ist gequollen* gushed *Also has the weak forms quellte and hat gequellt. pfiff whistled pries praised gepfiffen whistled gepriesen praised nahm took nannte named genommen taken genannt named PRTERITUM (Preterite) PERFEKT (Past Participle)

*The verb reiten is only used for riding an animal (e.g., horseback riding); to express "ride" in a transportation sense (bus, train, etc.), fahren is used. rennen run rannte ran ist gerannt run *The verb rennen is a "mixed" verb, combining elements of strong and weak verbs. For more see our Mixed Verbs page. riechen smell ringen wring rinnen flow rufen call S salzen salt saufen drink saugen suck schaffen create; accomplish, make salzte salted soff drank sog* sucked gesalzen/gesalzt salted gesoffen drunk gesogen* sucked roch smelled rang wrung rann flowed rief called gerochen smelled gerungen wrung ist geronnen flowed gerufen called

* Also has the weak forms saugte and hat gesaugt. In technical use, only the weak form is used. schuf* created geschaffen* created

*The strong forms schuf/hat geschaffen are used when the meaning is "created" ("Sie hat schne Sachen geschaffen."). To express "accomplished" or "made it," the weak forms schaffte/hat geschafft are used: "Er hat es geschafft (ein Tor zu machen)!" scheiden depart; separate schied separated geschieden* separated

*In the sense of "leave" or "depart" scheiden takes sein as a helping verb: "Karl ist aus dem Dienst geschieden." scheinen shine scheien shit schelten scold schieen shoot schlafen sleep schlagen hit schleichen sneak schleifen polish schleien slit schlieen close, lock schmeien fling, toss schmelzen melt schneiden cut schrecken scare schreiben write schreien scream schreiten step schweigen be silent schien shone schiss shit schalt scolded schoss shot schlief slept schlug hit schlich sneaked schliff* polished schli slit schloss closed schmiss flung schmolz melted schnitt cut schrak/schreckte scared schrieb wrote schrie screamed schritt stepped schwieg was silent geschienen shone geschissen shit gescholten scolded geschossen shot geschlafen slept geschlagen hit ist geschlichen sneaked geschliffen* polished geschlissen slit geschlossen closed geschlungen gulped geschmissen flung geschmolzen melted geschnitten cut geschreckt/geschrocken scared geschrieben written geschrien screamed ist geschritten stepped geschwiegen been silent ist geschwollen swollen

See the ablaut groups for learning the various patterns (a-u-a, e-a-o, etc.) of German strong verbs.

*Although the strong form is preferred, schleifte and hat geschleift (weak) are also used.

schlingen gulp (down) schlang gulped

schwellen* swell, rise schwoll swelled

*There are two forms of schwellen: (1) strong (above) for the sense of "to swell up/fill with wind," and (2) weak to "fill (something) up with wind/to swell (something) up." schwimmen swim schwinden dwindle schwingen swing schwamm swam schwand dwindled schwang swung ist geschwommen swum ist geschwunden dwindled geschwungen swung

schwren swear INFINITIV Se sehen see sein be

schwur/schwor swore PRTERITUM (Preterite) sah saw war was

geschworen sworn PERFEKT (Past Participle) gesehen seen ist gewesen been gesandt sent

For the conjugation of sein in the present tense, see Lesson 4 of German for Beginners. senden* send, transmit sandte sent *In the sense of "transmit" or "broadcast" only the weak forms sendete and hat gesendet are used. The weak forms may also be used in the sense of "send." sieden boil singen sing sinken sink sitzen* sit sott/siedete boiled sang sang sank sank sa sat gesotten boiled gesungen sung ist gesunken sunk gesessen sat gesollt* should gespalten/gespaltet split gespien spewed gesponnen spun gesprochen spoken gesprossen sprouted ist gesprungen jumped gestochen stung gestanden* stood

*Do not confuse sitzen (sit, strong) and (sich) setzen (set, weak)! sollen should, ought to sollte should spalten split speien spew spinnen spin sprechen speak sprieen sprout springen jump stechen stab, sting stehen stand spaltete split spie spewed spann spun sprach spoke spross sprouted sprang jumped stach stung stand stood *With an infinitive, the past participle is sollen: "Ich habe nicht gehen sollen."

*In some southern German and Austrian dialects, stehen takes sein as a helping verb: "Er ist im Eingang gestanden." stehlen steal steigen climb sterben die stieben fly about stinken stink stoen push, bump streichen strike, paint stahl stole stieg climbed starb died stob flew about stank stank stie pushed strich struck gestohlen stolen ist gestiegen climbed ist gestorben died ist gestoben flown about gestunken stunk gestoen pushed gestrichen struck

streiten argue T tragen carry, wear treffen meet treiben move, drive

stritt argued

gestritten argued

See the ablaut groups for learning the various patterns (a-u-a, e-a-o, etc.) of German strong verbs. trug wore traf met trieb drove getragen worn getroffen met getrieben* driven

*In the sense of "drift" or "float" treiben takes sein as a helping verb: "Das Eis ist den Fluss entlang getrieben." triefen drip trinken drink trgen be deceptive tun do U berwinden overcome berwand overcame V verderben spoil verdrieen annoy vergessen forget verlieren lose verschleien wear (out) verzeihen forgive W wachsen* grow waschsen wash weben weave weichen* yield weisen indicate wenden turn werben recruit werden become wuchs grew wusch washed wob/webte wove wich yielded wies indicated wandte* turned warb recruited wurde became ist gewachsen grown gewaschsen washed gewoben/gewebt woven ist gewichen yielded gewiesen indicated gewandt* turned geworben recruited ist geworden* become *In the sense of "to wax" (skis, etc.), wachsen is weak: (wachste and hat gewachst). verdarb spoiled verdross annoyed verga forgot verlor lost verschliss wore (out) verzieh forgave verdorben spoiled verdrossen annoyed vergessen forgotten verloren lost verschlissen worn (out) verziehen forgiven berwunden overcome triefte/troff dripped trank drank trog was deceptive tat did getrieft dripped getrunken drunk getrogen been deceptive getan done

*In the sense of "to soften" (up), weichen is weak: (weichte and hat geweicht).

*Also wendete and gewendet (car, hay, etc.).

*As a helping verb in the passive voice: worden, as in "Ich bin oft gefragt worden." (I have often been asked.) werfen throw wiegen weigh winden twist wissen* know warf threw wog/wiegte weighed wand twisted wusste knew geworfen thrown gewogen/gewiegt weighed gewunden twisted gewusst known

*The verb wissen is a "mixed" verb, combining elements of strong and weak verbs. For more see our Mixed Verbs page. - For the complete conjugation of wissen in all tenses, see wissen in our conjugation tables. wollen want to wringen wring Z zeihen accuse ziehen pull zwingen compel zieh accused zog pulled zwang compelled geziehen accused gezogen pulled gezwungen compelled wollte wanted to wrang wrung gewollt* wanted to gewrungen wrung *With an infinitive, the past participle is wollen: "Ich habe nicht gehen wollen."

Weak Verbs: Various Tenses Print this page (without ads) Also see: Reg. Verbs - Present Tense and Reg. Verbs - Past Tenses 1. arbeiten (to work) - regular (weak) verb; -tet ending Present: Er arbeitet bei SAP. - He works at SAP. (is working) Past/Preterite: Er arbeitete bei SAP. - He worked at SAP. (was working) Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Er hat bei SAP gearbeitet. - He worked at SAP. (has worked) Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Er hatte bei SAP gearbeitet. - He had worked at SAP. Future/Futur: Er wird bei SAP arbeiten. - He will work at SAP. 2. spielen (to play) - regular (weak) verb Present: Sie spielt Karten. - She's playing cards. Past/Preterite: Sie spielte Karten. - She played cards. (was playing) Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Sie hat Karten gespielt. - She played cards. (has played) Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Sie hatte Karten gespielt. - She had played cards. Future/Futur: Sie wird Karten spielen. - She will play cards. 3. mitspielen (to play along) - regular (weak) verb - separable prefix Present: Sie spielt mit. - She's playing along. Past/Preterite: Sie spielte mit. - She played along. (was playing along) Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Sie hat mitgespielt. - She played along. (has played along)

Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Sie hatte mitgespielt. - She had played along. Future/Futur: Sie wird mitspielen. - She will play along.

Strong Verbs: Various Tenses 1. fahren (to drive, travel) - strong, irregular verb; stem-changing Present: Er fhrt nach Berlin. - He's driving/traveling to Berlin. Past/Preterite: Er fuhr nach Berlin. - He went/traveled to Berlin. Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Er ist nach Berlin gefahren. - He went/traveled to Berlin. (has traveled) Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Er war nach Berlin gefahren. - He had gone to Berlin. Future/Futur: Er wird nach Berlin fahren. - He will travel to Berlin. 2. sprechen (to speak) - strong, irregular verb Present: Er spricht Deutsch. - He speaks German. (is speaking) Past/Preterite: Er sprach Deutsch. - He spoke German. (was speaking) Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Er hat Deutsch gesprochen. - He spoke German. (has spoken) Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Er hatte Deutsch gesprochen. - He had spoken German. Future/Futur: Er wird Deutsch sprechen. - He will speak German. 3. abfahren (to depart) - strong verb - separable prefix Present: Wir fahren morgen ab. - We leave/depart tomorrow. (are departing) Past/Preterite: Wir fuhren gestern ab. - We left yesterday. (were leaving) Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Wir sind gestern abgefahren. - We left yesterday. (have departed) Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Wir waren gestern abgefahren. - We had left yesterday. Future/Futur: Wir werden morgen abfahren. - We will leave/depart tomorrow. 4. besprechen (to discuss) - strong verb - inseparable prefix Present: Wir besprechen dieses Thema. - We are discussing this topic. Past/Preterite: Wir besprachen das gestern. - We discussed that yesterday. (were discussing) Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Wir haben das gestern besprochen. - We discussed that yesterday. (have discussed) Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Wir hatten das vorgestern besprochen. - We had discussed that the day before yesterday. Future/Futur: Wir werden das morgen besprechen. - We will discuss that tomorrow. Special Verb Examples Past action continuing into the present (present tense): He has been living in Berlin for three years. (and he still is) Er wohnt schon seit drei Jahren in Berlin. Action ending in the past: He lived (used to live) in Berlin for three years. (but no longer does) Er hat drei Jahre lang in Berlin gewohnt.

German Regular Verbs

Present Tense Verb Conjugations

Introduction Part of Lesson 4b of German for Beginners Also see: Past Tense Conjugations of regular verbs The regular German verbs follow a predictable pattern in the present tense. Once you learn the pattern for one regular German verb, you know how all German verbs are conjugated. (Yes, there are irregular verbs that don't always follow the rules, but even they will usually have the same endings as the regular verbs.) The majority of German verbs are regular, even though it may not seem that way, since many commonly used verbs are strong (irregular) verbs. The chart below lists two sample regular German verbs. All regular German verbs will follow the same pattern. We have also included a helpful list of the more common stem-changing verbs. These are verbs that follow the normal pattern of endings, but have a vowel change in their stem or base form (hence the name "stem-changing"). The verb endings for each pronoun are indicated in bold type. The Basics Each verb has a basic infinitive (to) form. This is the form of the verb you find in a German dictionary. The verb to play in English is the infinitive form. (He plays is a conjugated form.) The German equivalent of to play is spielen. Each verb also has a stem form, the basic part of the verb left after you remove the -en ending. For spielen the stem is spiel- (spielen - en). To conjugate the verb that is, use it in a sentenceyou must add the correct ending to the stem. If you want to say I play you add an -e ending: ich spiele (which can also be translated into English as I am playing). Each person (he, you, they, etc.) requires its own ending on the verb. This is called conjugating the verb. If you don't know how to conjugate verbs correctly it means your German will sound strange to people who understand the language. German verbs require more endings for the various persons than English verbs. In English we use only an s ending or no ending for most verbs: I/they/we/you play or he/she plays. German has a different ending for almost all of those verb situations: ich spiele, sie spielen, du spielst, er spielt, etc. Observe that the verb spielen has a different ending in most of the examples in the chart below. If you want to sound intelligent in German, you need to learn when to use which ending. That's why we have this chart for you! SPIELEN / TO PLAY Present Tense - Prsens Deutsch ich spiele du spielst English SINGULAR I play you (fam.) Ich spiele gern Basketball. Spielst du Schach? (chess) Sample Sentence

play er spielt sie spielt es spielt wir spielen ihr spielt sie spielen Sie spielen he plays she plays it plays we play you (guys) play they play you play Er spielt mit mir. (with me) Sie spielt Karten. (cards) Es spielt keine Rolle. (It doesn't matter.) PLURAL Wir spielen Basketball. Spielt ihr Monoploy? Sie spielen Golf. Spielen Sie heute? (Sie, formal "you," is both singular and plural.)

Verb Stem Ends in -d or -t Connecting -e examples

Applies only to du, ihr, and er/sie/es

arbeiten to work finden to find

er arbeitet du findest

Arbeitest du heute? Findet ihr das?

Also see related verb links/pages below. Now let's look at another kind of German verb, a stem-changing verb. Technically, sprechen (to speak) is a strong verb, not a regular verb. But in the present tense the verb sprechen is regular except for a stem change from e to i. That is, the verb changes its stem vowel, but the endings are the same as for any other regular verb in the present tense. Note that all stem changes only occur with the singular pronouns/persons du and the third person singular (er, sie, es). The first person singular (ich) and all the plural forms do NOT change. (Other stem-changing verb patterns include a to and e to ie. See the examples below.) Stem vowel changes are indicated below in red and a lighter background. Note that the verb endings remain normal. SPRECHEN / TO SPEAK Present Tense - Prsens Deutsch ich spreche du sprichst er spricht sie spricht es spricht English SINGULAR I speak you (fam.) speak he speaks she speaks it speaks Ich spreche am Telefon. Sprichst du am Telefon? Er spricht mit mir. (with me) Sie spricht Italienisch. Es spricht laut. (loudly) PLURAL Sample Sentence

wir sprechen ihr sprecht sie sprechen Sie sprechen

we speak you (guys) speak they speak you speak

Wir sprechen Deutsch. Sprecht ihr Englisch? Sie sprechen Italienisch. Sprechen Sie Spanisch? (Sie, formal "you," is both singular and plural.)

QUIZ on the present tense. Other Stem-Changing Verbs fahren geben lesen drive, travel to give to read er fhrt, du fhrst es gibt, du gibst er liest, du liest

Note: These stem-changing verbs are strong (irregular) verbs, but they have regular verb endings in the present tense. See Strong Verbs for more about irregular German verbs.

German Regular Verbs

Past Tense Verb Conjugations

Introduction Also see Lesson 18 of German for Beginners (Pres. Perf.) Also see: Present Tense Conjugations of regular verbs Regular German verbs follow an easy-to-learn and predictable pattern in both past tenses (simple past, present perfect). Once you learn the pattern for one regular German verb, you know how all German verbs are conjugated in the past. The irregular verbs don't follow the same rules in the past, but since most German verbs are regular, this makes your learning task somewhat simpler. The chart below shows a sample regular German verb in the simple past tense and the present perfect. All regular German verbs follow the same pattern. We have also included a helpful sample list of common regular verbs in German. The Basics (Simple Past) Any regular German verb uses the basic -te ending to form the simple past, similar to the -ed past ending in English. The past-tense ending is added to the verb stem exactly as in the present tense. "He played" thus becomes er spielte. To conjugate any regular verb in the simple past, you simply add the past-tense ending to the stem. As in the present tense, each "person" (he, you, they, etc.) requires its own ending on the verb. There are four (4) unique endings in the German simple past tense, one less than in the present tense (because the endings for ich and the third person are identical in the past). The simple past

tense endings are: -te (ich, er/sie/es), -test (du), -tet (ihr), and -ten (Sie, wir, sie [pl.]). Unlike English, the past tense ending is not always the same: I played = ich spielte, we played = wir spielten. Now let's look at all the conjugations of spielen in the simple past tense. (To learn more about when to use the simple past versus the present perfect (below), see The Two German Past Tenses.)
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More verbs in 20 Most-Used German Verbs QUIZ on the simple past tense. The Two German Past Tenses When to use which The Basics (Present Perfect) All regular German verbs have a basic past participle form based on the third person singular form. The third person form of the verb spielen is (er) spielt. Add the ge- prefix to that and you

get the past participle: gespielt. All regular verbs follow this same pattern: gesagt, gemacht, getanzt, etc. To form the present perfect tense, you take the past participle (gespielt/played) and use it with an auxiliary or helping verb (usually a form of haben, sometimes sein). The present perfect tense gets its name from the fact that you combine the present tense of the auxiliary verb with the participle to form the tense. (The past perfect is similar, using the past tense of the auxiliary verb.) In most cases, the past participle is placed at the end of the sentence: "Wir haben die ganze Nacht getanzt." (We danced all night.) To say "I have played" (or "I played") in the German present perfect, you say: "Ich habe gespielt." After you study the chart below, you will grasp the idea even better. SPIELEN / TO PLAY Present Perfect Tense - Perfekt Deutsch English SINGULAR ich habe gespielt du hast gespielt er hat gespielt sie hat gespielt es hat gespielt I played I have played you (fam.) played you have played he played he has played she played she has played it played it has played we played we have played you (guys) played you have played they played they have played you played you have played Ich habe Basketball gespielt. Hast du Schach gespielt? Er hat mit mir gespielt. Sie hat Karten gespielt. Es hat keine Rolle gespielt. (It didn't matter.) PLURAL wir haben gespielt ihr habt gespielt sie haben gespielt Sie haben gespielt Wir haben Basketball gespielt. Habt ihr Monoploy gespielt? Sie haben Golf gespielt. Haben Sie heute gespielt? Sample Sentence

More verbs in 20 Most-Used German Verbs QUIZ on the simple past tense. The Two German Past Tenses When to use which

Notice in the chart above that the German present perfect tense can be translated into English in two ways, with or without "have." Also be careful to avoid the incorrect use of the German present perfect for English expressions like, "I have lived in Frankfurt for five years (now)." In German that would be expressed in the present tense with seit: "Ich wohne seit fnf Jahren in Frankfurt." More Regular Verbs Notice the pattern? English answer ask build cost end hear say Deutsch antworten fragen bauen kosten enden hren sagen Simple Past antwortete* fragte baute kostete* endete* hrte sagte Past Participle geantwortet* gefragt gebaut gekostet* geendet* gehrt gesagt

*A regular verb whose stem ends in -d or -t adds a connecting e before the -te (past) or -t (past participle) ending.

The Top 20 Most-Used German Verbs

Ranked by Frequency of Use Infinitiv Common Forms ich bin I am du bist you are er war he was er ist gewesen he was/has been es wre it would be ich habe I have du hast you have er hat he has Sie haben gehabt You had/have had wir htten we would have Examples COMMANDS Sei still! Be quiet! Seien Sie bitte so freundlich! Would you be so kind! OTHER Ich bin's. It's me. Wie wr's mit einem Bier? How about a beer? COMMANDS Hab dich nicht so! Don't make such a fuss! OTHER Er hat keine Zeit. He has no time.

1 sein to be

2 haben to have

Wenn ich nur das Geld htte. If I only had the money. 3 werden to become Also used to form the future tense and the passive voice. COMMANDS werde! become! werden Sie! become! OTHER Es wird dunkel. It's getting dark. Sie wird uns schreiben. She will write us. (future) Der Brief wurde geschrieben. The letter was written. (passive) COMMANDS No imperative OTHER Er kann Deutsch. He knows German. Ich habe es nicht sagen knnen. I couldn't say it. COMMANDS No imperative OTHER Ich muss nicht. I don't have to. Er muss nach Berlin. He has to go to Berlin. COMMANDS Imperative rare OTHER Er will nichts trinken. He doesn't want to drink anything. Das habe ich nicht gewollt. I didn't mean to (do that). Wir wollen morgen abfahren. We want to leave tomorrow. COMMANDS No imperative OTHER Er mag die Suppe. He likes the soup. Was mchten Sie? What would you like? COMMANDS wisse! know! wisset! know! OTHER Er wei es nicht. He doesn't know. Sie wusste weder ein noch aus. She

ich werde I become du wirst you become er ist geworden he became es wurde it became es wrde.. it would...

4 knnen to be able, can

ich kann I can du kannst you can er konnte he could Sie knnen you can

5 mssen to have to, must

ich muss I must/have to du musst you must er muss he must sie musste she had to wir mssen we have to

6 wollen to want (to)

ich will I want (to) du willst you want (to) er will he wants (to) er wollte he wanted to sie hat gewollt she wanted to

7 mgen to like (to)

ich mag I like ich mchte I would like du magst you like er mochte he liked Sie mgen you like ich wei I know du weit you know wir wissen we know er wusste he knew ich habe gewusst I knew, have known

8 wissen to know

didn't know which way was up. Wissen Sie, wann sie ankommen? Do you know when they arrive? ich mache I do, make du machst you make er macht he does wir machten we did, made er hat gemacht he did, has done ich werde machen I will do, make COMMANDS Machen Sie sich keine Gedanken! Don't worry about it! OTHER Das macht nichts. It doesn't matter. Was macht das? What does it come to? (How much?) Was machen wir jetzt? Now what do we do? COMMANDS No imperative OTHER Ich sollte dort bleiben. I ought to stay there. Es soll schn sein. It's said to be/supposed to be nice. Was soll das? What's that supposed to mean? Examples COMMANDS N/A OTHER Wie heien Sie? What's your name? (last name) Ich heie Jones. My name is Jones. Er heit Braun. His name is Braun. Wie heit du? What's your name? (child) Ich heie Karl. My name is Karl. (child) Was soll das heien? What's that supposed to mean?/What do you mean by that? COMMANDS Sag das nicht! Don't say it! Sagen Sie mir! Tell me! OTHER Er sagt, was er denkt. He says what he means/thinks. Das sagt mir nichts. That doesn't mean anything to me. Du hast nichts zu sagen. You have no say (in the matter).

9 machen to make, do

10 sollen should, ought to, supposed to

ich soll I should du sollst you should er soll he should sie sollte she was supposed to wir sollen we ought to

Infinitiv

Common Forms

ich heie my name is 11 Tie sie heit her name is heien du heit your name is to be called, er hie his name was named er hat geheien he was named (my/his) name is wir heien our name is Heien Sie? Is your name?

11 Tie sagen to say, tell

ich sage I say du sagst you say er sagte he said er hat gesagt he said/has said wir sagen we say sagen Sie? do you say?/are you saying?

12 gehen to go

ich gehe I go, am going du gehst you go er geht he goes sie ist gegangen she went/has gone er ging he went

COMMANDS gehe! go! geht! go! gehen Sie! go! OTHER Das geht nicht. That won't do/work. Wie geht es Ihnen? How are you? Meine Uhr geht nach. My watch is slow. Sie geht zu Fu She goes on foot./She walks. COMMANDS sehe! see! sehen Sie! see! OTHER Sie sieht nicht gut. She doesn't see well. Wo hast du ihn gesehen? Where did you see him? COMMANDS gebt! give! gib! give! geben Sie! give! OTHER Geben Sie mir den Bleistift! Give me the pencil. Es gibt kein Geld. There is no money. Ich gab ihr das Buch. I gave her the book. Er hat mir das Geld gegeben. He gave me the money. COMMANDS komm! come! kommt! come! kommen Sie! come! OTHER Ich komme nicht nach Hause. I'm not coming home. Er ist nach Berlin gekommen. He came to Berlin.Woher kommt sie? Where does she come from?Es kam ganz anders, als erwartet. It turned out very differently than we expected. COMMANDS Lassen Sie das! Stop that! Leave that alone! OTHER

13 sehen to see

ich sehe I see du siehst you see er sieht he sees er hat gesehen he saw/has seen sie sah she saw wir sahen we saw

14 geben to give

ich gebe I give du gibst you give er gab he gave Sie geben you give es gibt there is/are

15 kommen to come

ich komme I come, am coming du kommst you come er kam he came sie ist gekommen she came

16 lassen to let, allow, leave

ich lasse I let du lsst you let er lsst he lets Sie haben gelassen You have let

er lie he let

Er lie sich keine Zeit. He didn't allow himself any time. Das lasse ich mir nicht gefallen. I won't put up with that. Er lsst sich die Haare schneiden. He's getting a haircut.

17 finden to find

COMMANDS finde! find! findet! find! ich finde I find finden Sie! find! ich fand I found OTHER du findest you find Er fand die Suppe gut. He liked the er fand he found Sie haben gefunden you found/have soup. Wir finden keinen Platz. We can't find found a seat. COMMANDS bleib! stay! bleibt! stay! Bitte, bleiben Sie sitzen! Please remain seated! OTHER Er bleibt in Kln. He's staying in Cologne. Alles blieb beim Alten. Everything stayed the same./Nothing changed. Es bleibt dabei. Agreed. It's a deal. COMMANDS nimm! take! nehmt! take! nehmen Sie! take! Nehmen Sie Platz! Have a seat! OTHER Er nahm das Geld. He took the money. Sie nahm es auf sich, das zu machen. She took it upon herself to do that. Wir haben den Tag freigenommen. We took the day off. COMMANDS bring! bring bringt! bring bringen Sie! bring OTHER Ich bringe Sie dorthin. I'll take you there. Er hat es weit gebracht. He has been very successful./He has come far. Was bringt das? What will that

18 bleiben to stay, remain

ich bleibe I stay du bleibst you stay wir bleiben we stay er blieb he stayed ich bin geblieben I stayed, have stayed

19 nehmen to take

ich nehme I take du nimmst you take er nimmt he takes wir nehmen we take er hat genommen he took, has taken ich werde nehmen I will take

20 bringen to bring

ich bringe I bring du bringst you bring er brachte he brought sie hat gebracht she brought, has brought

accomplish? Das hat mich zum Lachen gebracht. That made me laugh.