German verbs

Weak, strong, & irregular verb categories

About verb categories

Weak verbs

Verbs that belong to the German weak verb class all follow a basic, predictable pattern in every verb tense. Tenses are formed using the present infinitive stem. For example, all tenses of the weak verbs hören, sagen, warten are formed using their respective infinitive stems: hör, sag, wart.

The signifier for the past tenses of weak verbs is a dental suffix. In the simple past tense, this takes the form of a -te suffix. In the perfect tense, the participle is formed ending in -(e)t. (These endings are preceded by an e where the verb stem ends in -d or -t, or in -m or -n preceded by a consonant other than l or r).

The principle parts of German weak verbs

infinitive	simple past (3rd pers. sing.)	past participle
hören	hörte	gehört
sagen	sagte	gesagt
warten	wartete	gewartet
regnen	regnete	geregnet

Because these forms are quite predictable with just a knowledge of a verb's infinitive form, most dictionaries and glossaries do not list the principle parts of weak verbs.

Weak verbs are a feature unique to the Germanic languages, including English. They form the largest group of verbs in German and are the only category that is still expanding in the number of root words it contains. Any relatively modern verbs and all wholly new verbs created in the German language through the creation of new technologies or the adoption of foreign words (e.g., telefonieren, surfen, downloaden) are all weak.

Strong verbs

Unlike the weak verbs, which use the same infinitive stem in the formation of every verb tense, the strong verbs have stem changes to help signify verb tense. These stem changes are not predictable and must be learned.

The principle parts of German strong verbs

infinitive	present tense stem change (3rd pers. sing.)	simple past (3rd pers. sing.)	past participle
gehen	--	ging	gegangen
schreiben	--	schrieb	geschrieben
fahren	fährt	fuhr	gefahren
trinken	--	trank	getrunken
kommen	--	kam	gekommen
sprechen	spricht	sprach	gesprochen

As shown in the table, not all strong verbs have stem changes in every tense. For instance, the past participles of kommen and fahren use the unaltered infinitive stem (gekommen, gefahren). And while a handful of strong verbs do have stem changes in the present tense 2nd and 3rd person singular forms (e.g. fährt, spricht), most strong verbs use the infinitive stem in their present tense conjugations (e.g., geht, trinkt).

However, what all German strong verbs do have in common is a stem change to the signify simple past tense. In addition, all strong verbs in German use an -en suffix in the formation of the past participle (e.g., gesprochen, gefahren).

Because the principle parts of strong verbs are unpredictable, they must be learned -- either through repeated use or memorization -- or looked up in a dictionary. For easy reference, we have compiled a comprehensive list of the strong and irregular verbs that exist in German. This is a finite list. No new root strong verbs are being added to the German language anymore. In fact, over the centuries some old strong verbs have dropped their stem changes and have gradually been transformed into weak verbs.

Mixed verbs

As the name implies, mixed verbs share characteristics of both strong verbs and weak verbs. Like weak verbs, the mixed verbs have the dental suffix -te or -(e)t in the past participle and simple past and past participle forms respectively. Like the strong verbs, they also have a stem vowel change.

The principle parts of German mixed verbs

infinitive	present tense stem change (3rd pers. sing.)	simple past (3rd pers. sing.)	past participle
brennen	--	brannte	gebrannt
kennen	--	kannte	gekannt
wenden	--	wandte	gewandt
denken	--	dachte	gedacht
wissen	weiß	wusste	gewusst

Note that among the mixed verbs, the verb wissen has an irregular conjugation in the present tense as well:

		sing.	pl.
	1st person	ich weiß_	wir wissen
	2nd person	du weißt	ihr wisst
	3rd person	er weiß_	sie wissen

The principle parts of German modal verbs

infinitive	present tense stem change (3rd pers. sing.)	simple past 3rd pers. sing.)	past participle
dürfen	darf	durfte	gedurft
können	kann	konnte	gekonnt
mögen	mag	mochte	gemocht
müssen	muss	musste	gemusst
sollen	soll	sollte	gesollt
wollen	will	wollte	gewollt

The infinitive | The past participle | The present participle | Weak verbs | Strong verbs | Mixed verbs
List of all strong & irregular verbs | The present tense | The simple past tense
For more German verbs topics, see the GERMAN GRAMMAR INDEX

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