Irregular present tense verbs in German
HOW NOT TO CRASH AND BURN!
VERBS ARE
STEM
CHANGE
VERBS !They are NOT
ENDING
CHANGE
VERBS
You still add the regular snap endings to the stem!
ich
stem+e
du
stem+st
er/es/sie stem
+t
wir stem
+enihr ste
m+t
Sie/sie stem
+en
but(Yes, I think you’ve guessed it!)
sometimes
the stem
changes
You should be asking yourself 3 questions now!
1. When does the stem change?
2. What does the stem change to?
3. Which verbs are affected?
But hopefully you don’t look like this!
Only when you use:
•The ‘du’ form
•The ‘er/es/sie’ form
Think! Think!
There are three possible stem changes:
a ä
e i
e ie
tragen (to wear)
ich trage
du trägst
er/es/sie trägt
wir tragen
ihr tragt
Sie/sie tragen
a ä
helfen (to help)
ich helfe
du hilfst
er/es/sie hilft
wir helfen
ihr helft
Sie/sie helfen
e i
sehen (to see)
ich sehe
du siehst
er/es/sie sieht
wir sehen
ihr seht
Sie/sie sehen
e ie
Thankfully there are more regular verbs than irregular
Irregular verbs are listed at the back of any dictionary
You should learn every irregular verb as you meet it
Here are some common irregular verbs:
fahren (to go/travel)
laufen (to run)
schlafen (to sleep)
waschen (to wash)
halten (to hold)
essen (to eat)
geben (to give)
sprechen (to speak)
sterben (to die)
treffen (to meet)
werfen [to throw)
lesen (to read)
sehen (to see)
Again?