Verbs

German verbs are the engine of every sentence. Like English, they change form based on who's doing the action (conjugation) and when it happens (tense). Unlike English, German verb conjugation follows more regular patterns, making it easier to predict once you know the rules. This page covers the essential verb patterns you need for everyday communication.

Verb infinitives

The infinitive is the base form of the verb — what you'll find in dictionaries. In English, infinitives use "to" (to speak, to eat). German infinitives typically end in "-en", occasionally just "-n". When you learn a new verb, you learn its infinitive form first:

German infinitives (the "to" form) typically end in -en:

• machen — to make/do
• spielen — to play
• kommen — to come
• gehen — to go

A few end in -n:

• sein — to be
• tun — to do

Present tense conjugation

To conjugate a regular verb in the present tense, remove the "-en" ending to get the stem, then add the appropriate ending for each person. The endings are highly predictable: -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en. Once you know these six endings, you can conjugate thousands of regular verbs:

Regular pattern: machen (to make/do)

Here's the complete conjugation pattern. "Machen" (to make/do) is a common regular verb that demonstrates the standard endings clearly:

Person	Pronoun	Stem + Ending	Meaning
1st singular	ich	mache	I make
2nd singular	du	machst	you make (informal)
3rd singular	er/sie/es	macht	he/she/it makes
1st plural	wir	machen	we make
2nd plural	ihr	macht	you make (informal plural)
3rd plural	sie	machen	they make
Formal	Sie	machen	you make (formal)

Stem-ending adjustments

Some verb stems end in consonants that make the standard endings hard to pronounce. When the stem ends in "-t", "-d", or certain consonant clusters, German adds an extra "-e-" before the "-st" and "-t" endings. This is purely for ease of pronunciation — "arbeitst" would be awkward, so it becomes "arbeitest":

arbeiten (to work):

• ich arbeite
• du arbeitest
• er arbeitet
• ihr arbeitet

If the stem ends in -s, -ß, -z, or -x, the du form only adds -t:

reisen (to travel):

• du reist (not reisst)

Important irregular verbs

Every language has irregular verbs, and the most common verbs are usually the most irregular. German is no exception. "Sein" (to be) and "haben" (to have) are used in virtually every conversation and as auxiliaries for forming past tenses. Memorise their forms completely — you'll use them constantly.

sein (to be)

"Sein" is completely irregular — none of its forms resemble the infinitive. This is true in most European languages (English: am/is/are/was/were). Learn these forms by heart:

Person	Form	Example
ich	bin	Ich bin müde. (I am tired.)
du	bist	Du bist nett. (You are nice.)
er/sie/es	ist	Es ist kalt. (It is cold.)
wir	sind	Wir sind hier. (We are here.)
ihr	seid	Ihr seid spät. (You are late.)
sie/Sie	sind	Sie sind willkommen. (You are welcome.)

haben (to have)

"Haben" is less irregular than "sein" but still has some quirks. The "du" and "er/sie/es" forms drop the "b" ("hast", "hat"). "Haben" is essential as it's used to form the past tense (Perfekt) for most verbs:

Person	Form	Example
ich	habe	Ich habe Zeit. (I have time.)
du	hast	Du hast Recht. (You are right.)
er/sie/es	hat	Sie hat Hunger. (She is hungry.)
wir	haben	Wir haben ein Auto. (We have a car.)
ihr	habt	Ihr habt Glück. (You are lucky.)
sie/Sie	haben	Sie haben Post. (You have mail.)

werden (to become / auxiliary for future)

"Werden" means "to become" but is also used as the auxiliary verb for forming the future tense. Like English "will", it combines with an infinitive to express future actions. It's also used for the passive voice. A versatile and essential verb:

Person	Form
ich	werde
du	wirst
er/sie/es	wird
wir	werden
ihr	werdet
sie/Sie	werden

Stem-changing verbs

Many of the most common German verbs are "stem-changing" — they modify their vowel in the "du" and "er/sie/es" forms only. This happens in the present tense and affects speaking, giving, eating, seeing, and many other everyday verbs. The changes follow predictable patterns (e→i, e→ie, a→a), so once you recognise the pattern, you can predict the changes.

e → i

Some verbs with "e" in the stem change it to "i" in the second and third person singular. This is common in verbs of speaking, giving, and taking:

Infinitive	du	er/sie/es	Meaning
sprechen	sprichst	spricht	to speak
geben	gibst	gibt	to give
essen	isst	isst	to eat
nehmen	nimmst	nimmt	to take
helfen	hilfst	hilft	to help

e → ie

Other verbs with "e" change it to "ie" (a longer sound). This typically happens in verbs of seeing and reading. The "ie" represents a longer vowel sound than the simple "i":

Infinitive	du	er/sie/es	Meaning
sehen	siehst	sieht	to see
lesen	liest	liest	to read
empfehlen	empfiehlst	empfiehlt	to recommend

a → ä

Verbs with "a" in the stem often add an umlaut, becoming "a". This happens in common verbs of motion and action like driving, sleeping, and running. The umlaut shifts the vowel sound forward in your mouth:

Infinitive	du	er/sie/es	Meaning
fahren	fährst	fährt	to drive/travel
schlafen	schläfst	schläft	to sleep
tragen	trägst	trägt	to wear/carry
laufen	läufst	läuft	to run/walk

Modal verbs

Modal verbs express ability (can), necessity (must), desire (want), permission (may), and obligation (should). German has six modal verbs, all of which are irregular. They work with another verb in the infinitive, which goes to the end of the sentence. Mastering modals dramatically expands what you can express — "I can speak German", "I must go now", "I want to read":

Infinitive	Meaning	ich	du	er/sie/es	wir	ihr	sie/Sie
können	can, able to	kann	kannst	kann	können	könnt	können
müssen	must, have to	muss	musst	muss	müssen	müsst	müssen
wollen	want to	will	willst	will	wollen	wollt	wollen
sollen	should	soll	sollst	soll	sollen	sollt	sollen
dürfen	may, allowed to	darf	darfst	darf	dürfen	dürft	dürfen
mögen	like to	mag	magst	mag	mögen	mögt	mögen

Sentence structure with modals:

• Ich kann Deutsch sprechen. — I can speak German.
• Du musst jetzt gehen. — You must go now.
• Sie will ein Buch lesen. — She wants to read a book.

Past tense: Perfekt

For everyday spoken German, the Perfekt is the go-to past tense. It's similar to English "I have done" but is used where English would use simple past ("I did"). The Perfekt uses an auxiliary verb ("haben" or "sein") plus a past participle. Learning to form past participles is essential for talking about anything that happened in the past.

Regular (weak) verbs

Regular verbs form their past participle predictably: add "ge-" to the beginning and "-t" to the end of the stem. "Machen" (to make) becomes "gemacht" (made). This pattern covers thousands of verbs:

Past participle = ge- + stem + -t

Infinitive	Past participle	Example
machen	gemacht	Ich habe es gemacht. (I did it.)
spielen	gespielt	Wir haben gespielt. (We played.)
kaufen	gekauft	Sie hat es gekauft. (She bought it.)

Irregular (strong) verbs

Irregular (strong) verbs form past participles differently: they often have vowel changes in the stem and end in "-en" instead of "-t". "Sehen" (to see) becomes "gesehen" (seen), "sprechen" (to speak) becomes "gesprochen" (spoken). These must be memorised, but many follow patterns you'll recognise:

Infinitive	Past participle	Example
sehen	gesehen	Ich habe ihn gesehen. (I saw him.)
geben	gegeben	Er hat mir Geld gegeben. (He gave me money.)
sprechen	gesprochen	Wir haben Deutsch gesprochen. (We spoke German.)
fahren	gefahren	Sie ist nach Berlin gefahren. (She went to Berlin.)

Verbs with sein

Most verbs form the Perfekt with "haben", but verbs of movement or change of state use "sein" instead. Think: "I have arrived" doesn't work in German — it's "Ich bin angekommen" (I am arrived). If the verb involves going somewhere or becoming something different, use "sein":

Verb	Past participle	Example
gehen	gegangen	Ich bin gegangen. (I went.)
kommen	gekommen	Er ist gekommen. (He came.)
werden	geworden	Sie ist müde geworden. (She became tired.)
sein	gewesen	Wir sind dort gewesen. (We were there.)

Past tense: Präteritum

The Prateritum (simple past) is used primarily in written German — novels, newspapers, formal reports. In speech, you'll mainly encounter it with "sein", "haben", and modal verbs, where it sounds more natural than Perfekt. "Ich war mude" (I was tired) is more common in speech than "Ich bin mude gewesen".

sein (was/were)

The Prateritum of "sein" is used constantly in both speech and writing. These forms are essential:

Person	Form
ich	war
du	warst
er/sie/es	war
wir	waren
ihr	wart
sie/Sie	waren

haben (had)

The Prateritum of "haben" is also common in speech, especially in northern Germany. These forms are straightforward — add endings to the stem "hatt-":

Person	Form
ich	hatte
du	hattest
er/sie/es	hatte
wir	hatten
ihr	hattet
sie/Sie	hatten

Future tense

German forms the future tense using "werden" (the verb you learned means "to become") plus an infinitive at the end of the sentence. This is similar to English "will" + verb. However, German often uses the present tense with a time expression to indicate future actions, especially for definite plans:

• Ich werde morgen kommen. — I will come tomorrow.
• Es wird regnen. — It will rain.
• Wir werden sehen. — We will see.

Often, present tense with a time expression implies future:

• Ich komme morgen. — I'm coming tomorrow.

Separable verbs

A distinctive feature of German is separable verbs — verbs with prefixes that detach and move to the end of the sentence. "Aufstehen" (to get up) splits into "Ich stehe... auf" (I get... up). The prefix carries meaning (auf = up, an = at/on, ein = in, mit = with) and must go to the end in main clauses. This takes practice but becomes natural:

Verb	Meaning	Example
aufstehen	to get up	Ich stehe um 7 Uhr auf.
ankommen	to arrive	Der Zug kommt um 8 an.
einkaufen	to shop	Sie kauft im Supermarkt ein.
fernsehen	to watch TV	Wir sehen abends fern.
mitkommen	to come along	Kommst du mit?

In the past participle, ge- goes between the prefix and stem:

• aufstehen → aufgestanden
• einkaufen → eingekauft

Common verbs reference

Here are the most frequently used German verbs with their Perfekt forms. Memorise these — they appear in virtually every conversation. Note which ones use "sein" (indicated by "ist") versus "haben" (indicated by "hat"):

German	English	Perfekt
gehen	to go	ist gegangen
kommen	to come	ist gekommen
sehen	to see	hat gesehen
machen	to make/do	hat gemacht
sagen	to say	hat gesagt
wissen	to know (fact)	hat gewusst
kennen	to know (person/place)	hat gekannt
denken	to think	hat gedacht
glauben	to believe	hat geglaubt
finden	to find	hat gefunden

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