German Verbs (100 Conjugated Verbs)

Editorial Karibdis

German Verbs

100 verbs series - Volume 4

First edition

Karibdis 22.03.18

Original title: German Verbs

© Editorial Karibdis, 2018

Cover design: Karina Martínez Ramírez

Vector cover image: Creative_hat / Freepik

Digital editor: Karibdis

First edition: March 2018

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GERMAN VERBS

1. Introduction

German language belongs to the Germanic languages like English, Danish and Swedish. The main features of the German language are:

mood: indicative, subjunctive, conditional, imperative

tense: present, past, future

person: first, second, third

number: singular, plural

voice: active, passive, reflexive

2. Classification of verbs

German verbs are divided into two groups, according to the formation of the past and the past participle:

Weak or regular verbs: the vowel of the root does not change

Strong or irregular verbs: the vowel of the root changes

3. Present indicative

The present indicative of all verbs is formed with the root of the verb (infinitive without -en or -n) plus the endings -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en:

KAUFEN (buy)

kauf-e

kauf-st

kauf-t

kauf-en

kauf-t

kauf-en

If the root ends in -d, -t or a consonant group, a vowel -e- is added before the endings of the first and second person of singular and the second person of plural:

REDEN (talk)

red-e

red-est

red-et

red-en

red-et

red-en

Some strong verbs change the vowel of the root in the second and the third person of singular:

fallen (fall): du fällst, er fällt

schlafen (sleep): du schläfst, er schläft

laufen (run): du läufst, er läuft

geben (give): du gibst, er gibt

helfen (help): du hilfst, er hilft

lesen (read): du liest, er liest

stoßen (find): du stößt, er stößt

4. Compound past

The compound past indicative of all verbs is formed with the auxiliary verb haben (have) in present indicative plus the past participle of the main verb:

KAUFEN (buy)

habe gekauft

hast gekauft

hat gekauft

haben gekauft

habt gekauft

haben gekauft

There is a group of intransitive verbs which form the compound tenses with the auxiliary verb sein (be). Some of these verbs are biegen (bend), bleiben (stay), brechen (break), fahren (drive), fallen (fall), fliegen (fly), gehen (go), laufen (walk), rennen (run), reisen (travel), reiten (ride), scheiden (separate), schmelzen (melt), sein (be), springen (jump), sterben (die), treten (step), verderben (ruin), wachsen (grow) and werden (become):

REISEN (travel)

bin gereist

bist gereist

ist gereist

sind gereist

seid gereist

sind gereist

5. Past

The past indicative of weak verbs is formed with the root of the verb plus the endings -te, -test, -te, -ten, -tet, -ten:

KAUFEN (buy)

kauf-te

kauf-test

kauf-te

kauf-ten

kauf-tet

kauf-ten

The past indicative of strong verbs are formed with the root of the irregular verb (see the list of strong verbs) plus the endings -ø, -st, -ø, -en, -t, -en:

SINGEN (sing)

sang

sang-st

sang

sang-en

sang-t

sang-en

6. Pluperfect

The pluperfect indicative of all verbs is formed with the auxiliary verb haben (have) in the past plus the past participle of the main verb:

KAUFEN (buy)

hatte gekauft

hattest gekauft

hatte gekauft

hatten gekauft

hattet gekauft

hatten gekauft

Some intransitive verbs as biegen (bend), bleiben (stay), brechen (break), fahren (drive), fallen (fall), fliegen (fly), gehen (go), laufen (walk), rennen (run), reisen (travel), reiten (ride), scheiden (separate), schmelzen (melt), sein (be), springen (jump), sterben (die), treten (step), verderben (ruin), wachsen (grow) and werden (become) form the pluperfect with the auxiliary verb sein (be) in the past plus the past participle of the main verb:

REISEN (travel)

war gereist

warst gereist

war gereist

waren gereist

wart gereist

waren gereist

7. Future

The future indicative of all verbs is formed with the present indicative of the auxiliary verb werden (become) plus the infinitive of the main verb:

KAUFEN (buy)

werde kaufen

wirst kaufen

wird kaufen

werden kaufen

werdet kaufen

werden kaufen

8. Compound future

The compound future indicative of all verbs is formed with the auxiliary verb werden (become) in present, followed by the past participle of the main verb and the auxiliary verb haben (have) in infinitive:

KAUFEN (buy)

werde gekauft haben

wirst gekauft haben

wird gekauft haben

werden gekauft haben

werdet gekauft haben

werden gekauft haben

Some intransitive verbs as biegen (bend), bleiben (stay), brechen (break), fahren (drive), fallen (fall), fliegen (fly), gehen (go), laufen (walk), rennen (run), reisen (travel), reiten (ride), scheiden (separate), schmelzen (melt), sein (be), springen (jump), sterben (die), treten (step), verderben (ruin), wachsen (grow) and werden (become) form the compound future with the auxiliary verb werden (become) in present, followed by the past participle of the main verb ans the auxiliary verb sein (be) in infinitive:

REISEN (travel)

werde gereist sein

wirst gereist sein

wird gereist sein

werden gereist sein

werdet gereist sein

werden gereist sein

9. Present subjunctive

The present subjunctive of all verbs is formed with the root of the verb plus the endings -e, -est, -e, -en, -et, -en:

KAUFEN (buy)

kauf-e

kauf-est

kauf-e

kauf-en

kauf-et

kauf-en

The verb sein (be) is the only irregular verb in present subjunctive:

SEIN (be)

sei

sei-est

sei

sei-en

sei-et

sei-en

10. Compound past subjunctive

The compound past subjunctive of all verbs is formed with the auxiliary verb haben (have) in present subjunctive plus the past participle of the main verb:

KAUFEN (buy)

habe gekauft

habest gekauft

habe gekauft

haben gekauft

habet gekauft

habe gekauft

Some intransitive verbs as biegen (bend), bleiben (stay), brechen (break), fahren (drive), fallen (fall), fliegen (fly), gehen (go), laufen (walk), rennen (run), reisen (travel), reiten (ride), scheiden (separate), schmelzen (melt), sein (be), springen (jump), sterben (die), treten (step), verderben (ruin), wachsen (grow) and werden (become) form the compound past subjunctive with the auxiliary verb sein (be) in present subjunctive plus the past participle of the main verb:

REISEN (travel)

sei gereist

seiest gereist

sei gereist

seien gereist

seiet gereist

seien gereist

11. Past subjunctive

The past subjunctive of weak verbs if formed like the past indicative, with the root of the verb plus the endings -te, -test, -te, -ten, -tet, -ten:

KAUFEN (buy)

kauf-te

kauf-test

kauf-te

kauf-ten

kauf-tet

kauf-ten

The past subjunctive of strong verbs is formed with the root of the verb in the past plus the endings -e, -est, -e, -en, -et, -en:

GEHEN (go)

ging-e

ging-est

ging-e

ging-en

ging-et

ging-en

The vowels -a-, -o-, -u- of the roots of the strong verbs change to -ä-, -ö-, -ü- in order to form the past subjunctive:

infinitive — past indicative — past subjunctive

trinken (drink): ich trank (I drank) — ich tränke (that I drank)

heben (lift): ich hob (I lifted) — ich höbe (that I lifted)

backen (cook): ich buk (I cooked) — ich büke (that I cooked)

12. Pluperfect subjunctive

The pluperfect subjunctive of all verbs is formed with the auxiliary verb haben (have) in past subjunctive plus the past participle of the main verb:

KAUFEN (buy)

hätte gekauft

hättest gekauft

hätte gekauft

hätten gekauft

hättet gekauft

hätten gekauft

Some intransitive verbs as biegen (bend), bleiben (stay), brechen (break), fahren (drive), fallen (fall), fliegen (fly), gehen (go), laufen (walk), rennen (run), reisen (travel), reiten (ride), scheiden (separate), schmelzen (melt), sein (be), springen (jump), sterben (die), treten (step), verderben (ruin), wachsen (grow) and werden (become) form the pluperfect subjunctive with the auxiliary verb sein (be) in past subjunctive plus the past participle of the main verb:

REISEN (travel)

wäre gereist

wärest gereist

wäre gereist

wären gereist

wäret gereist

wären gereist

13. Future subjunctive

The future subjunctive of all verbs is formed with the auxiliary verb werden (become) in present subjunctive plus the infinitive of the main verb:

KAUFEN (buy)

werde kaufen

werdest kaufen

werde kaufen

werden kaufen

werdet kaufen

werden kaufen

14. Compound future subjunctive

The compound future subjunctive of all verbs is formed with the auxiliary verb werden (become) in present subjunctive, followed by the past participle of the main verb and the auxiliary verb haben (have) in infinitive:

KAUFEN (buy)

werde gekauft haben

werdest gekauft haben

werde gekauft haben

werden gekauft haben

werdet gekauft haben

werden gekauft haben

Some intransitive verbs as biegen (bend), bleiben (stay), brechen (break), fahren (drive), fallen (fall), fliegen (fly), gehen (go), laufen (walk), rennen (run), reisen (travel), reiten (ride), scheiden (separate), schmelzen (melt), sein (be), springen (jump), sterben (die), treten (step), verderben (ruin), wachsen (grow) and werden (become) form the compound future subjunctive with the auxiliary verb werden (become) in present subjunctive, followed by the past participle of the main verb and the auxiliary verb sein (be) in infinitive:

REISEN (travel)

werde gereist sein

werdest gereist sein

werde gereist sein

werden gereist sein

werdet gereist sein

werden gereist sein

15. Present conditional

The present conditional of all verbs is formed with the auxiliary verb werden (become) in past subjunctive plus the infinitive of the main verb:

KAUFEN (buy)

würde kaufen

würdest kaufen

würde kaufen

würden kaufen

würdet kaufen

würden kaufen

16. Past conditional

The past conditional of all verbs is formed with the auxiliary verb werden (become) in past subjunctive, followed by the past participle of the main verb and the auxiliary verb haben (have) in infinitive:

KAUFEN (buy)

würde gekauft haben

würdest gekauft haben

würde gekauft haben

würden gekauft haben

würdet gekauft haben

würden gekauft haben

Some intransitive verbs as biegen (bend), bleiben (stay), brechen (break), fahren (drive),