There are four types of verb in German: Hilfsverben (auxiliary verbs - in English be and have), Modalverben (English modal auxiliary verbs: can, may, must, ought), regelmäßige Verben (regular verbs), and unregelmäßige Verben (irregular verbs).

Aktiv and Passiv are two prinicpal verb forms. Aktiv: Er lobt; Passiv: er wird gelobt (he commends; he is being commended). These two forms are possible only with transitive verbs, i.e. directed verbs, whereas intransitive verbs allow only active use. Use of the terms transitive and intransitive has thus become infrequent in German. In modern German grammar, one rather distiguishes between the active form and passive form of a verb. The passive form is constructed only with the auxiliary verbs werden, or sein.

German grammars used to distinguish between schwache Verben (weak verbs) and starke Verben (strong verbs). This concept is inadequate and obsolete. There are now regelmäßige Verben and unregelmäßige Verben. The Wortstamm (the word stem) is constant in the regular verb and changes in the irregular verb, when conjugated. Example of a verb in its basic form, which is the Infinitiv (infinitive):

sag-en, where Wortstamm=sag, and Endung=en

All verbs get inflected in Person (1., 2., and 3. - i.e. through the persons I, you, he/she/it); Numerus (i.e. Singular, Plural); Modus (i.e. Indikativ, Konjunktiv I, Konjunktiv II); Tempus (i.e. Präsens, Präterium, Futur I, Futur II, Perfekt, Plusquamperfekt); and, Genus (i.e. Aktiv, Passiv).

Whereas inflection tables for all forms of the regular verbs (reguläre Verben) are shown in Konjugationsregeln, it is the objectiv of this Section to discuss the rules and patterns of those basic inflection forms from which all others are formed by simple rules. We cover both, regelmäßige and unregelmäßige Verben. The basic forms of inflection are Indikativ Präsens, Indikativ Präterit, and Konjunktiv I Präsens. That is through the three persons and two numbers.

The first pair of tables is for regelmäßige Verben, and the second pair for unregelmäßige Verben. At the end of the Section on unregelmäßige Verben follows a list of frequently used unregelmäßige Verben, followed byspecialized discussion of Ablaut sequences.

Comment on e-Erweiterung
Certain regular verbs have an e inserted between word stem and ending, in the inflection forms so indicated in the tables. The rule is simple. People don't snap their tongue in pronouncing German. So, insert an e between word stem and ending when it mitigates the pronounciation.

Following are the details, usually unimportant.

The verbs subject to e-Erweiterung are all those whose word stem

• either ends with d or t,
• or ends with a fricative or explosive consonant, followed by m or n

All consonants, with the exception of l, r, w, or x are either fricatives or explosives.

Examples:
günden: du gründest; reden: er redet; atmen: ihr atmet; rechnen: wir rechneten; wappnen: du wappnest.

There are 173 irregular verbs. Similarly as in English, it is the ablaut forms that distinguishes them from the regular verbs. Whereas the verb endings are inflected almost identically as those in the regular verbs, it is the word stem, as well, that gets to be modified in the irregular verbs. In most verbs, only the principal vowel is affected.

In principle, five different word stems are formed by ablaut gradation, one for each of the five inflection classes of the German language.

1. All but two forms of Präsens Indikativ and Konjunktiv I; Imperativ; 1.Partizip; and Infinitiv.
2. The remaining two forms of Präsens Indikativ, i.e. 2. and 3.Person Singular.
3. All Präterit Indikativ forms.
4. All Präterit Konjunktiv II forms.
5. 2.Partizip (i.e. past participle).

These five classes can be reduced, as follows.

• In most irregular verbs, no gradation takes place in the 2.Person and the Class 2 can then be ignored.
• In many irregular verbs, the gradation of Class 4 does not occur and Class 4 can be ignored. For the rest of the irregular verbs, the Konjunktiv II form is rarely being used. That is because this particular type of ablaut gradation is nowadays considered archaic and somewhat affected. One rather prefers then the würde form of Konjunktiv II.

In summary, one requires only three to four of the above classes. That is 1, (2), 3, and 5, where the stem of Class (2), is listed in the dictionnaries, where applicable. Similarly so in our list farther below. Customarily, dictionnaries include in their word listing the irregular forms, whichever they are, among the five stem classes of irregular verbs.

Of almost 2/3 of all irregular verbs, we list here the three principal word stems. That is the classes 1,   2 where it exists,  and 3. Stem class 4 is not shown for being mostly redundant in modern German. Stem class 5 is not needed here in the Konjunktiv II topic. Consult your dictionary for the stem class 5, which is the 2.Partizip (i.e. Partizip Perfekt or past participle).

Where the ablaut of 2. and 3.Person differs (see Class 2), the graded ablaut is shown in parantheses following the stem's main vowel. The Präterit form is always shown in parantheses. Verbs whose word stem differs in Konjunktiv II (see Class 4) are underlined, and should be used in würde form instead of the Konjunktiv II Präterit. Almost all irregular verbs have thus been underlined. Their use in Konjunktiv II Präterit is preferred no longer.

backen (backte); befe(ie)hlen (befahl); beginnen (begann); beißen (biß); be(i)rgen (barg); bewegen (bewog); biegen (bog); bieten (bot); binden (band); bitten (bat); bla(ä)sen (blies); bleiben (blieb); bleichen (blich); bra(ä)ten (briet); bre(i)chen (brach); brennen (brannte); bringen (brachte);

denken (dachte); dringen (drang); dü(a)rfen (durfte); empfa(ä)ngen (empfing); fa(ä)llen (fiel); finden (fand); ge(i)ben (gab); gehen (ging); gleichen (glich);

ha(ä)lten (hielt); heißen (hieß); kennen (kannte); kommen (kam);

la(ä)ssen (ließ); la(ä)ufen (lief); leiden (litt); le(ie)sen (las); liegen (lag); lö(i)schen (losch); lügen (log); meiden (mied); me(i)lken (molk); me(i)ssen (maß); mö(a)gen (mochte); müssen (mußte);

neh(i)men (nahm); nennen (nannte); ra(ä)ten (riet); rennen (rannte); riechen (roch);

sa(ä)ufen (soff); saugen (sog); schaffen (schuf); schallen (schallte); scheiden (schied); scheinen (schien); schieben (schob); schießen (schoß); schla(ä)fen (schlief); schla(ä)gen (schlug); schleifen (schliff); schließen (schloß); schme(i)lzen (schmolz); schneiden (schnitt); schreiben (schrieb); schreiten (schritt); schweigen (schwieg); schwimmen (schwamm); schwinden (schwand); schwören (schwur); se(ie)hen (sah); senden (sandte); sieden (sott); singen (sang); sinken (sank); sinnen (sann); sitzen (saß); spalten (spaltete); spre(i)chen (sprach); springen (sprang); ste(i)chen (stach); stecken (stak); stehen (stand); ste(ie)hlen (stahl); steigen (stieg); sterben (starb); stinken (stank); sto(ö)ßen (stieß); streichen (strich); streiten (stritt);

tra(ä)gen (trug); tre(i)ffen (traf); treiben (trieb); treten (trat); tringen (trank); tun (tat);

verde(i)rben (verdarb); verge(i)ssen (vergaß); verlieren (verlor);

wa(ä)chsen (wuchs); wägen (wog); wa(ä)schen (wusch); weben (wob); weichen (wich); wenden (wandte); we(i)rben (warb); we(i)rfen (warf); wiegen (wog); winden (wand); winken (winkte); wi(ei)ssen (wußte);

ziehen (zog); zwingen (zwang).

This discussion should be instructive for the serious student. For learning the language, it is not necessary and may be skipped.

An example of an ablaut sequence in English is ring, rang, rung. All 173 irregular verbs follow an ablaut sequence. The applicable sequence is a specific one for the particular stem master vowel. Some long vowels follow a sequence different from that of the corresponding short-vowel sequence. The long vowels are shown underlined in the following table. They may be spelled ah, eh, ie, ih, oh, or uh. The size of the ablaut classes is listed in the column Anzahl der Verben, which is the number of verbs in that sequence. Only the ablaut sequences with at least four member verbs are listed, which cover 3/4 of all irregular verbs.

In addition to an ablaut sequence, some of the irregular verbs change the last consonant of the word stem, which is called Konsonantenwechsel. More precisely, it is the consonant immediately following the stem master vowel that changes. In most cases the Konsonantenwechsel follows a pattern. These are the following, where the change is indicated by an arrow (-->). The examples show the sequence Infinitiv - Präterium - 2.Partizip (past participle).

d --> tt as in leiden - litt - gelitten;
h --> nd as in stehen - stand - gestanden;
h --> ng as in gehen - ging - gegangen;
g --> ch as in bringen - brachte - gebracht;
k --> ch as in denken - dachte - gedacht;

As regards bringen - brachte - gebracht, and denken - dachte - gedacht, these are conjugated as regelmäßige Verben, except for their unique ablaut sequence and consonant change.

Created: 13.04.98
Last modified: 13.04.98
Author: H.Vogel email: hvogel@travlang.com
Site maintained by: H.Vogel

Copyright (c)H.Vogel at The Travlang Company, 1998.

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