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Verbs

German verbs can be classified as weak or as strong. Weak verbs are very regular in their forms, whereas strong verbs change the stem vowel.

Weak: kaufen, kaufte, gekauft

Strong: singen, sang, gesungen

With its Anglo-Saxon origin, this notion is also present in English.

flip, flipped, flipped sing, sang, sung

Some German verbs have weak and strong forms. This may depend on meaning:

Der Botschafter wurde nach Berlin gesandt. Der Süddeutsche Rundfunk sendete ein Konzert aus dem Gasteig.

Or on transitive vs. intransitive use:

Das Hemd hing auf der Wäscheleine. Sie hängte das Hemd auf die Wäscheleine.

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Separable Verbs

Sometimes you will run into verbs such as anrufen, aufräumen, mitkommen. These verbs are examples of Separable Prefix Verbs. When you see these kinds of verbs, it will have a preposition prefix followed by a verb. These verbs separate when they are the main verb of a sentence.

EXAMPLES:

I am calling the butcher. Ich rufe den Metzger an.

I am trying on the boots. Ich probiere die Stiefel an.

= Reflexive Verbs =

Reflexive Verbs are verbs involving the reflexive pronoun "sich" and its conjugations that reflect, or refer back, to the performer of the action. There are only accusative and dative reflexive pronouns.

Accusative reflexive pronouns are used when there is no direct object. Dative reflexive pronouns are used when a direct object is present. However, when using a direct object, the possessive is not used.

Examples:

Reflexive pronouns in cases

	Accusative	Dative
Himself	sich	sich
Herself	sich	sich
Itself	sich	sich
Themselves	sich	sich
Yourself (informal)	dich	dir
Yourself (formal)	sich	sich
Yourself (informal plural)	euch	euch
Myself	mich	mir
Ourselves	uns	uns

= Modals = Edit

Dürfen

Dürfen means to be allowed/permitted, may.

Present tense:

Ich darf - I am allowed to

Du darfst - You are allowed to

Er/Sie/Es darf - He/She/It is allowed to

Wir dürfen - We are allowed to

Ihr dürft - You (plural) are allowed to

Sie dürfen - They are allowed to/You (formal) are allowed to

Darf ich einen Freund zum Fest bringen? May I bring a friend to the party.

Man darf hier nicht rauchen. You're not allowed to smoke here.

Past tense:

Ich durfte Du durftest

Er/Sie/Es durfte

Wir durften

Ihr durftet

Sie durften

Niemand durfte die Stadt verlassen. No one was allowed to leave the city.

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Können

können means 'to be able, capable'. It is cognate with the English work 'can'/'could'.

Present Tense:

ich kann - I can

du kannst - You can

er/sie/es kann - He/She/It can

wir können - We can

ihr könnt - You can

sie können - They can

Ich kann das nicht tun. I can't do it.

Past Tense:

ich konnte

du konntest

er/sie/es konnte

wir konnten

ihr konntet

sie konnten

Wir konnten sie nicht erreichen. We could not reach them.

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Mögen

mögen expresses a pleasure, or desire. In the present tense, it is used transitively with people or food. e.g. 'Ich mag dich' 'I like you' or 'Ich mag Erdbeeren' 'I like strawberries'. The subjunctive (of the past) expresses preference to perform the action of a subordinate clause 'Ich möchte nach Frankreich reisen' I would like to travel to France'. 'mögen' is cognate with the English verb 'may'/'might'.

Present Tense:

ich möchte/mag I would like to

du möchtest/magst You would like to

er möchte/mag He/She/It would like to

wir möchten/mögen We would like to

ihr möchtet/mögt You would like to

sie möchten/mögen They would like to

Ich möchte nach Deutschland reisen. I would like to travel to Germany.

(There is also a present subjunctive möge, which is very formal:
Der König sagte: "Er möge eintreten." - The king said: "He may enter.")

Past Tense:

ich mochte

du mochtest

er/sie/es mochte

wir mochten

ihr mochtet

sie mochten

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Müssen

müssen expresses something forced on you. It is etymologically related to 'must'.

Present tense:

ich muss gehen I must (have to) go

du musst

er/sie/es muss

wir müssen

ihr müsst

sie müssen

Past Tense:

ich musste I had to

du musstest

er musste

wir mussten

ihr musstet

sie mussten

Note that the negative nicht müssen is not the English must not, but rather need not or don't have/need to. must not translates to nicht dürfen.

Ich muss nicht arbeiten. ~ Ich brauche nicht zu arbeiten. I don't have to work.

Ich darf nicht arbeiten. I must not work.

There are however some northern German uses like: Du musst das nicht tun meaning Du solltest das nicht tun.

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Sollen

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Use in Perfect (and Pluperfect) Tense

Although all these modals have a normal perfect:

gedurft gekonnt gemocht gemusst gesollt

in connection with other verbs, the infinitive form is used:

Ich habe das tun dürfen - können - mögen - müssen - sollen.

Falsch ist:

Ich habe das tun gedurft - gekonnt - gemocht - gemusst - gesollt.

Das gilt auch für die Verben sehen und hören:

Ich habe ihn kommen sehen - hören.

=Present Tense=

The Present Tense is used for..

• The Present Tense (="das Präsens") is used to describe situations that are happening (there are no progressive tenses in German) and aren't the past.

• For Ongoing Action, like I'm swimming in the pool now

• Everyday Truths, like The moon and stars will come at night.

• Future meaning, if explictly stated, like I will run tomorrow morning

I'm editing to add that in German they do use the PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE.

Here is one example:

Ich bin am Fahren.

I'm driving.

The person to say this would be driving during the time they say this and they would continue to drive after stating this for some time.

=Perfect Tense= The Perfect Tense or das Perfekt of verbs is used to talk about things in the past which have already happened. It is sometimes referred to as "Present Perfect Tense". This can cause confusion. While the formation is similiar, the meaning and usage differs.

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Formation

As in English, the perfect tense consists of two parts. An auxiliary (Hilfsverb) and a past participle (Partizip Perfekt). Compare the examples given below with their English translations.

Er	hat	gelacht.
He	has	laughed.

Sie	ist	gekommen
She	has	come.

Die Kinder	haben	gegessen.
The children	have	eaten.

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Past participle for regular verbs

The general rule is simple:

verb	prefix	+ 3rd-person sing.	participle(er/sie/es)
lachen (laugh)	ge	+ (er/sie/es) lacht	gelacht
kaufen (buy)	ge	+ (er/sie/es) kauft	gekauft
mähen (mow)	ge	+ (er/sie/es) mäht	gemäht

There are some groups of regular verbs that slightly differ from that pattern.

Some verbs drop the prefix ge-. Like the other regular verbs they end in -t. These are:

1. Verbs with unseparable prefixes (be-, ent-, er-, empf-, ge-, ver-, miss-, zer-)
Examples:

verb	past participle
besuchen (visit)	besucht
entfernen (remove)	entfernt
erreichen (achive)	erreicht
gehören (belong)	gehört
verstecken (hide)	versteckt
missverstehen (misunderstand)	missverstanden

2. Verbs ending in -ieren
Examples:

verb	past participle
kopieren (copy)	kopiert
polieren (polish)	poliert

3. Another group is formed by verbs with separable prefixes
With separable verbs, the prefix ge is placed between the prefix and the rest of the verb.
Examples:

verb	sep. pref.+ ge + 3rd-person sg.	= past participle
aufmachen (open)	auf + ge + macht	= aufgemacht
abstellen (put down)	ab + ge + stellt	= abgestellt

Separable and inseparable verbs are distinguished by the stressed syllable:

verb	past participle
über'setzen (to translate)	über'setzt
'übersetzen (to ferry across)	'übergesetzt

Er hat das Buch ins Chinesische übersetzt. Der Fährmann hat den Passagier übergesetzt (über den Fluss gesetzt).

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Past Participle for Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs always end in -en. The vowel can be different from the one in present tense. Look at some examples:

infinitive	3rd-person sg.	past participle
gehen (go)	geht	gegangen
essen (eat)	isst	gegessen
schreiben (write)	schreibt	geschrieben
trinken (drink)	trinkt	getrunken
schlafen (sleep)	schläft	geschlafen
nehmen (take)	nimmt	genommen

You have to learn these forms by heart. How you can obtain the necessary information and how you should learn them is described in section tips for learning below.

Note that irregular verbs can be combined with the same prefixes as described above. The same rules regarding the prefix ge- apply. Therefore the forms for schreiben, verschreiben and aufschreiben are geschrieben, verschrieben and aufgeschrieben respectively.

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Which verbs are irregular

A lot of verbs that are irregular in English are irregular in German, too. Unfortunately, this is not always true. It is most likely when the German and the English verb are related (i.e look similar).

Examples: see: irregular sehen: irregular buy: irregular kaufen: regular get: irregular bekommen: irregular ;-)

Regular verbs are much more frequent than irregular ones, but a lot of the irregular verbs are used very frequently, for instance haben, sein, gehen, kommen etc.

When in doubt whether a verb is irregular or not, it is best to look it up in a dictionary (See below).

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haben or sein as auxiliaries

Whether a verb is irregular or not does not influence the choice of auxiliary.

Most verbs take haben as auxiliary.

A) Verbs which take an accusative object (transitive verbs)
B) Reflexive verbs always take haben as auxiliary.

Examples A: trinken: Er hat ein Bier getrunken. lesen: Sie hat ein Buch gelesen kochen Sie haben gestern Spaghetti gekocht.

Examples B sich freuen Ich habe mich gefreut sich kämmen Er hat sich gekämmt sich ärgern Wir haben uns schon lange nicht mehr so geärgert.

The auxiliary sein is taken by verbs that describe

C) the relocation from one place to another or

D) the change of a state

and with

E) sein (be) and bleiben (stay)

Note: none of the verbs from groups C-E is combined with an accusative object.

Examples C: relocation verbs verb aux. irregular sentence with perfect tense kommen (come) sein yes Ich bin gekommen. reisen (travel) sein no Wir sind schon dreimal nach China gereist. fahren (drive) sein yes Ich bin mit dem Auto nach Kalifornien gefahren. begegnen (meet) sein no Er ist ihm gestern begegnet. gehen (go) sein yes Du bist gegangen. starten (take off) sein yes Das Flugzeug ist gestartet.

In southern German (mostly Bavarian) use, also stehen, sitzen und schwimmen are treated like a (non-)movement: Ich bin gestanden - gesessen - geschwommen. High German is: Ich habe gestanden - gesessen - geschowmmen. Aber: Ich habe den See durchschwommen.

Examples D: change of state verbs verb aux. irr. sentence with perfect tense aufstehen (get up) sein yes Ich bin heute früh aufgestanden. einschlafen (fall asleep) sein yes Die Kinder sind endlich eingeschlafen. verblühen (whither) sein no Die Blumen sind schon verblüht

Examples E: sein and bleiben Er ist nicht lange geblieben. He didn't stay long. Er ist immer nett gewesen. He has always been nice.

Exeptions to the rules Some of the verbs from group A can be used with an object in accusative case. In this case, they take haben as auxiliary.

Compare: Ich bin nach Kalifornien gefahren. I drove to California. Ich bin mit dem Auto nach Kalifornien gefahren. I drove to California by car (literally: with the car) Ich habe das Auto (Akk.) nach Kalifornien gefahren. I drove the car to California.

The same applies to fliegen (fly), starten and reiten (ride a horse).

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sentence structure

The perfect tense consists of two verb forms: an auxiliary and a past participle. Together they form the so called predicate. The predicate consists of all verb parts in one clause.

The sentence structure in perfect behaves as with every two parts predicate (modals plus infinitive, separable verbs etc.)

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Main Clauses

In a main clause (Hauptsatz), the conjugated verb (the auxiliary in this case) is in the second position and the past participle stands at the end of the clause.

First Position (I) (II) 1) Sein Vater hat gestern ein fantastisches Essen gekocht. 2) Gestern hat sein Vater ein fantastisches Essen gekocht. Both: Yesterday, his father cooked a fantastic meal. 3) Ein fantastisches Essen hat sein Vater gestern gekocht.* It was a fantastic meal that his father cooked yesterday. * The third example is correct, although not very frequent. You might use it if you want to stress what exactly his father has prepared or if you have to repeat the sentence because your partner has not understood this particular part of it.

Second position does not equal second word, as you can see above. However, there is only one group of words allowed before the conjugated verb (the auxiliary in this case). Such groups of words are called "phrases". While you can put very long phrases in front of the conjugated verb, you must not use two. Therefore the sentence "Gestern sein Vater hat ein fantastisches Essen gekocht" is wrong.

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subordinated clauses - Nebensätze

Subordinated clauses begin with a subordinating conjunction. Well known conjunctions of this kind are weil dass wenn.

*In spoken language weil is often used like und or aber, which means that it is followed by a main clause. However, after weil, speakers often pause for a little while. There is no pause after either und or aber.
Weil + main clause is not allowed in written language. Therefore you may say: Ich gehe, weil - (little pause) - ich bin müde. But you wouldn't use it in a letter. At least not yet.
The correct conjunction for a main clause is denn, which is rarely used in spoken language.

In subordinated clauses the conjugated verb, i.e the auxiliary, stands at the very end of the sentence. The past participle stands directly in front of it. For example: conj. aux. participle aux. Ich weiß, dass du das gemacht hast. Ich glaube dir, weil du bisher noch nie gelogen hast. Ich glaube dir, denn du hast bisher noch nie gelogen. Ich gehe, wenn du gegangen bist.

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Usage

Unlike in English the difference in meaning between Perfekt and Präteritum is rather small. The main difference between those two forms lies in usage. Perfekt is mostly used in spoken language, while Präteritum is mostly reserved for written texts. However, the modals, the verbs haben and sein and the expression es gibt are almost exclusively used in Präteritum - even when speaking. One reason might be the frequency of those verbs, the other reason is most likely the very complex perfect forms for modals.

(This is in southern German use; in northern German, you'll hear the preterite also in spoken language.)

On the other hand, the perfect tense is used in writing too. The more oral the text is, the more perfect tense you will find (for example in personal letters etc.). If an action has happened very recently, it tends to be in perfect tense too.

Look at the following conversation and concentrate on the distribution of Präteritum and Perfekt.

(1) Anna: Hallo Peter. Wo warst du denn? Ich habe dich schon lange nicht mehr gesehen.
(2) Peter: Hallo Anna. Ich war die letzen zwei Wochen im Urlaub.
(3) Anna: So? Wo warst du denn genau?
(4) Peter: Auf der Insel Elba, in einem fantastischen Hotel. Es gab jeden Abend ein Büffet und man konnte essen, so viel man wollte!
(5) Anna (lacht): Ich glaube dir sofort, dass dir das gefallen hat. Du hast aber nicht nur gegessen, oder? Was hast du denn den ganzen Tag gemacht?
(6) Peter (lacht auch): Nein, natürlich nicht. Ich bin viel geschwommen, ich habe mir die Insel angeguckt und am Abend bin ich immer zum Tanzen in eine Disco gegangen.
(7) Anna: Aha... Und? Hast du jemanden kennen gelernt?
(8) Peter (grinst): Kein Kommentar.


Vocablary to help you understand the text: der Urlaub, -e vacation genau exactly, precisely die Insel, -n island das Büffet, -s buffet gefallen like angucken to look at (colloquial) kennen lernen get to know grinsen grin

Used forms to talk about past events Präteritum Perfekt du warst (1/3) habe gesehen (1) ich war (2) es hat gefallen (5) es gab (4) du hast gegessen (5) konnte (4) du hast gemacht (5) wollte (4) ich bin geschwommen (6) ich habe angeguckt (6) ich bin gegangen (6) du hast kennen gelernt

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How to find the forms in a dictionary

Unless you have a special dictionary for learners, not all the forms will be spelled out. Regular forms are often omitted. The same goes for the auxiliary haben. If no forms are indicated, you may assume that the verb is regular and has the verb haben as an auxiliary. However, if you find the abbreviation itr or i. (for intransitive) behind the verb, the auxiliary is often sein. Intransitve verbs don't have an accusative object and these are often used with sein, while transitive verbs (tr. or t.) are always conjugated with haben.

Sometimes not even the forms of irregular verbs are given in the lexicon entry. Irregular verbs are often indicated by irr. for irregular or a similar abbreviation. In that case, look for a list of irregular verb forms in the index of your dictionary.

To find the past participle of separable verbs you often have to cut the prefix and look for the base form of the verb. If you look for aufstehen (get up), you probably find your answer in the entry of stehen. Remember: The prefix ge goes in between the prefix of the separable verb and the verb itself: auf + ge + standen.

When working online, you might consider using http://www.canoo.net Canoo. Enter an arbitrary form of the word you are interested in into the mask. Hit enter. On the results page, choose the link Flexion behind the appropriate entry (or inflection in the english version). You will get a table of all possible verb forms.

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Tips for learning

Irregular forms are just that - irregular. Therefore you have to learn them by heart. By learning four forms, you can construct every verb form for a given verb.
The forms you should know are: Infinitiv Präsens Präteritum Hilfsverb + Partizip Perfekt infinitiv 3rd person preterite auxiliary + past participle gehen geht ging ist + gegangen nehmen nimmt nahm hat + genommen fahren fährt fuhr ist + gefahren lesen liest las hat + gelesen essen isst aß hat + gegessen kommen kommt kam ist + gekommen bleiben bleibt blieb ist + geblieben sein ist war ist + gewesen anfangen fängt ... an fing ... an hat + angefangen ...

All forms - besides the infinitive of course - should be in 3rd-person singular.

A good way to learn those forms is to put them on small cards. On one side you write the infinitive and probably a sentence to illustrate the usage of the verb. On the backside you put the rest of the forms and - if needed - a translation of the verb. When learning, you look at the infinitve and try to remember the forms and the meaning. You can easily verify your hypothesis by flipping the card.

If you encounter a verb you want to learn, look it up in a dictionary. If it is irregular, learn the verb together with its defining forms. Like that, you spare yourself a lot of trouble later on.

=Preterite= Edit

Forms - Formen

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Regular Forms

Regular (or better, weak) verbs take the ending -te. The person endings are added afterwards. Note that the forms for 1st- and 3rd-person singular are the same.

ich lern -te du lern -test er lern -te wir lern -ten ihr lern -tet sie lern -ten Sie lern -ten

If the stem of a verb (infinitive minus -en) ends in -t (arbeit-en), -d (end-en) or consonant plus m or n (öffn-en, rechn-en) you add an -e before the preterite endings.

ich arbeit -e -te du arbeit -e -test sie arbeit -e -te wir arbeit -e -ten ihr arbeit -e -tet sie arbeit -e -ten Sie arbeit -e -ten

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Irregular Forms

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without -te

The strong verbs belong to this group. The endings are easy to memorize. It is harder to know which vowel to use.

fahren ich fuhr - du fuhr -st sie fuhr - wir fuhr -en ihr fuhr -t sie fuhr -en Sie fuhr -en

The rule mentioned above for t/d, double-consonant + n/m applies also for irreglar verbs. stehen ich stand - du stand -(e)st er stand - wir stand -en ihr stand -et sie stand -en Sie stand -en

gehen, ging, gegangen stehen, stand, gestanden

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with -te

Few irregular verbs take the -te ending. Examples are: nennen, rennen, kennen, bringen, denken and the irregular modals (können, dürfen and müssen).

nennen ich nann -te du nann -test er nann -te wir nann -ten ihr nann -tet sie nann -ten Sie nann -ten



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Usage

Unlike in English the difference in meaning between Perfekt and Präteritum is rather small. The main difference between those two formes lies in usage. Präteritum ist mostly used in written language, while Perfekt is mostly used in spoken language and in texts that have an oral touch like personal letters. However, the modals, the verbs haben and sein and the expression es gibt are almost exclusively used in Präteritum - even when speaking.

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How to find the forms in a dictionary

Unless you have a special dictionary for learners not all the forms will be spelled out. Regular forms are often omitted. Irregular verbs are often marked by irr. for irregular or a similar abbreviation. In that case, look for a list of irregular verb forms in the index of your dictionary.

When working online, you might consider using http://www.canoo.net Canoo. Enter an arbitrary form of the word you are interested in into the mask. Hit enter. On the results page, choose the link Flexion behind the appropriate entry (or inflection in the English version). You will get a table of all possible verb forms.

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Tips for learning

Irregular forms are just that - irregular. Therefore you have to learn them by heart. By learning four forms, you can construct every verbform for a given verb.
The forms you should know are: Infinitiv Präsens Präteritum Hilfsverb + Partizip Perfekt infinitiv 3rd person preterite auxiliary + past participle gehen geht ging ist + gegangen nehmen nimmt nahm hat + genommen fahren fährt fuhr ist + gefahren lesen liest las hat + gelesen ...

All forms - besides the infinitiv of course - should be in 3rd-person singular.

A good way to learn those forms is to put them on small cards. On one side you write the infinitive and probably a sentence to illustrate the usage of the verb. On the backside you put the rest of the forms and - if needed - a translation of the verb. When learning, you look at the infinitve and try to remember the forms and the meaning. You can easily verify your hypothesis by flipping the card.

If you encounter a verb you want to learn, look it up in a dictionary. If it is irregular, learn the verb together with its defining forms. Like that, you spare yourself a lot of trouble later on.

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Future Tense

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Talking about future with the present tense

German uses the Present Tense to talk about the future whenever it is clear to both speaker and listener that the future is meant. In the dialogue example:

Wenn du zu Hause bleibst, kommen wir dich besuchen. If you stay at home, we shall come and visit you.

The whole conversation is about the future, so there is no need to indicate it again in the tense of the verb.

Some more examples:

Ich schreibe den Brief heute Abend. I will write the letter this evening. Wir fahren nächstes Jahr nach Spanien. We will go to Spain next year.

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Future Tense

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Futur I

Where the meaning would not otherwise be clear, and in more formal language, e.g. to express an intention, German talks about the future tense by using werden plus the infinitive at the end of the clause. The forms of werden are: ich werde du wirst er/sie/es/man wird wir werden ihr werdet sie/Sie werden

Examples: Ich werde ein Haus bauen. I shall build a house. (an intention) Wir werden sehen. We will see.

The future can also express some inescapable fate: Sie werden alle umkommen. They will all perish.

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Future II

If the sentence is speculative, "sein" or "haben" is added to the verb and Futur II is formed:

Sie werden angekommen sein. literally "they will have arrived" - meaning "(I gather) they have arrived (by now)"

Sie werden es gemacht haben. "they will have done it"

Normally, you use Futur II'' when speaking about something that should have happened already, but you are not sure or you can't prove it.