• Water supply
• Pumps
• Water purification
• Wells
• Filters

Conjugation of weak verbs in German table. Strong and weak verbs. The benefits of learning German

When studying German grammar, you should not neglect a detailed study of this section, because This information will help you write correctly. Along with oral speech, where you need to download audio with translation, constantly listen to it and pronounce it after the speaker, it is important to systematically perform exercises in grammar. Lists of tests and assignments to reinforce a particular topic can be found in every German grammar textbook. How do you know which book is right for you? To do this, consult with a teacher or visit the forum.

Irregular (weak) and strong verbs in German

All verbs in German, depending on their conjugation, are divided into two main groups :

• weak verbs (die schwachen Verben);
• strong verbs (die starken Verben) or irregular verbs (die unregelmäßigen Verben).

Strong and irregular verbs are divided into two separate groups in some textbooks. In such books, modal and auxiliary verbs and the verb wissen are also classified as irregular.

How many basic forms do verbs have in sentences?

All verb forms in German are formed from three basic forms:

• undefined (original, specified in the dictionary) – INFINITIV: lachen – laugh, tragen – wear;
• past tense forms - PRÄTERITUM(imperfect): lachte, trug;
• participles – PARTIZIP II: gelacht, getragen.

Changing verbs according to basic forms

All three forms of the verb are usually written as follows: lachen – lachte – gelacht; tragen – trug – getragen. If we look at the first verb, we see that its root vowel does not change in any way. In the preterium, the suffix -te is added to the base, and the prefix ge- and the ending –t are added to the participle II. All this refers to the characteristics of weak verbs. We can conclude that weak verbs in German do not change their form when used in speech.

The second verb in the preterium form changes its root vowel, there are no suffixes. In the particular, the prefix ge- and the ending -en are added to the base. This refers to the characteristics of strong verbs. This means that strong verbs can change vowels and consonants. Example: sehen – sah – gesehen. It is better to memorize all strong or irregular verbs or look in the dictionary to see how they change.

Examples of basic verb forms in German

The table can easily show how the main German verbs change in form:

Table of strong verbs in German

All 20 of the main strong verbs in German, and those used less frequently, can be classified based on the way they alternate vowels in their roots to form the three main forms. Verbs grouped in a table are much easier to learn. The first 5 and other verbs are listed here in alphabetical order. They are divided into small groups - it is better to learn not all at once, but in parts. Function verbs are also indicated here - they are used to form complex tense forms.

Translate from Russian to German

1. 1. The student works very diligently. (fleißig – diligent)
2. 2. He draws pictures willingly. (die Bilder – paintings)
3. 3. We live in Berlin permanently. (standig – constantly)
4. 4. We swim and dive in Crimea. (tauchen – dive, auf der Krim – in Crimea)
5. 5. How long have you been working in this company? (bei der Firma - in the company)
6. 6. You observe and then discuss what happened. (das Geschehene - what has already happened, discutieren - to discuss, beobachten - to observe)
7. 7. Where are you from? (woher – from where)
8. 8. The father is playing with his daughter today. (die Tocher - daughter)
9. 9. Peter writes a letter to his girlfriend. (der Brief - letter)
10. 10. We visit our relatives every weekend. (die Verwandten – relatives, jedes Wochenende – every weekend)
11. 11. How long do you stay in Germany? (Wie lange – how long)
12. 12.You don’t need to come today. (heute – today)
13. 13. Where do you stay on the weekend? (am Wochenende – on weekends)
14. 14.Do you dream of a business trip? (die Dienstreise – business trip, träumen – dream)
15. 15. We do our homework in the evenings. (abends – in the evenings)
16. 16. They are going to the cinema together tomorrow. Kino. (ins Kino – in the cinema)
17. 17. He always tells me the truth. (die Wahrheit - true)
18. 18. My aunt is preparing a delicious lunch for me. (lecker – delicious)
19. 19. He is not afraid of heights. (die Höhe – height)
20. 20. My children look for socks in the morning. (die Socken - socks)
21. 21. Oleg greets the teacher. (der Lehrer - teacher)
22. 22. Who do they ask about the trip? (die Reise – journey)
23. 23. What is the name of this street? (die Straße - street)
24. 24. Do you study at university or work? (an der Universität - at the university)
25. 25. I study German at school. (in der Schule - at school)
26. 26. The lesson ends at 3 o'clock. (zu Ende sein – to end)
27. 27. The girl translates the text correctly. (richtig – correct)
28. 28. Pavel lives nearby and walks to work. (nicht weit – not far, zu Fuß gehen – walk)
29. 29. What do you drink for breakfast? (das Frühstück – breakfast)
30. 30. Who are you making meat salad for? (der Fleischsalat - meat salad)

According to the method of formation of the main forms, all verbs in the German language are divided into weak, strong and irregular. The formation of Imperfekt (Präteritum) and Partizip II of all weak verbs follows one general rule and does not cause difficulties. The basic forms of irregular verbs can be memorized in just a few days, since the number of such verbs is limited.

Strong verbs in German so numerous that the need to memorize them can cause panic and doubt in one’s own abilities. In fact, everything is not so scary.

So, what is the difference between strong and weak verbs in German?

Changing the root vowel during conjugation, for example:

Ending -en in Partizip II (the ending of weak verbs in Partizip II is -t), for example:

Appearance umlaut or changing the root vowel e, ä or ö on i in 2l. units and 3l. units Präsens (not always), for example:

raten - er r ä t (he advises)
stoßen - er st ö ßt (he pushes)
bergen - er b i rgt (he saves)
essen-er i sst (he eats)

For better memorization,list of strong verbs in Germancan be divided into several subgroups (according to the nature of changes in the root vowel in basic forms):

Table of strong verbs in German. Top - 30

A summary table of strong and irregular verbs can almost always be found in the dictionary. Remembering everything is quite difficult, it takes a lot of time. We suggest you start with the thirty most commonly used strong verbs in the German language.

Strong verbs (die starken Verben) are the most complex verbs in the German language. Memorizing 5 new words every day will make the learning process easier and more enjoyable.

For many English language learners, the most difficult category remains verbs and their use. Is an auxiliary verb always needed and what is it, why is the ending -s- not always put in the 3rd person singular and why some verbs can or cannot form a question on their own?
However, fear has big eyes. Let's look together at some of the features of English verbs.

A verb is an independent part of speech and denotes an action.

Let's start with the fact that in English there are two large categories: strong and weak verbs.

To the group strong verbs includes:

* to be and its forms ( am/ is/ are/ was/ were/ will be)
* modal verbs ( can/ could, must, may/ might, have to, ought to,
should, would)
* verb forms of the future tense ( will/shall)
* have got(it's important to remember that " have"is strong only in combination with
"got", since by and large it is a perfect form).
* auxiliary verbs do/ does/ did

To the group weak verbs includes most of the well-known English verbs, e.g. to begin, to love, to have, to do, etc.

Set yourself a goal - to learn and remember strong verbs, and you will not have difficulties in the following situations:

3rd person singular (he/she/it) in Present Simple

Weak verbs in these conditions have an ending -s/ -es Strong verbs do not change their form. The exception is the verbs have/have got (which changes the word form to has/has got) And to be(each person has its own special forms).

e.g.
He loves me.- He loves me.
This woman understands everything.- This woman understands everything.

My boyfriend can dance well.- My boyfriend is a great dancer.
She must take the pills.- She should take the pills.
It will be great!- Everything gonna be alright!

Jack has/has got a family.- Jack has a family.
Julia is my little sister.- Julia is my younger sister.

Question/denial

Strong verbs can independently form interrogative and negative forms, occupying the first place in the sentence.

Can your boyfriend dance well?- Does your boyfriend dance well?
He can't dance at all.- He doesn't know how to dance at all.

Must she take the pills?-Does she really need to take medicine?
She mustn't, actually.- She shouldn't do this.

Will it be fine?- Everything will be fine?
It won't be, sorry.- It won't, sorry.

Has she got a cell phone?- Does she have a mobile phone?
She hasn't one any more.- No more.

Is Amanda your wife?-Amanda is your wife?
She isn't.- No, not mine.

Weak verbs are not able to construct interrogative or negative forms on their own. In this case, the auxiliary verb is used in English do/ does/ did (don"t/ doesn"t/ didn't in negative form). In this case, auxiliary verbs take on all grammatical functions (time, number, person), and the weak verb is used in the initial form without a particle -to-.

e.g.
Does he love you?- He loves you?
He doesn't love you.- He doesn't love you.

Did the woman understand everything?- Did the woman understand everything?
She didn't understand a word, sorry.- She didn’t understand a word, sorry.

Did you do it?- Did you do this? (Verb to do the presence of an auxiliary is also required. How do you do?- How are you? Literally means "how you do things in life").

I don't like coffee at all.- I don't like coffee at all.

Future

Future tense forms are formed in the same way for both categories using the verbs will/shall or their negative forms will not/ shall not (won"t/ shan"t).

e.g.
He will come tomorrow.- He will arrive tomorrow.
I shan"t call him./ I won"t call him.- I won't call him.
They will be able to have some rest next week.- Next week they will have the opportunity to rest.

The verb can changes its form in the future tense to will be able.

Separately, we want to tell you about two verbs: to need(to need) and to have got(have). Although strong, they are still not full-fledged modal verbs and can be sufficient (with auxiliary verb forms) or insufficient (imitating an infinitive).

Sufficient forms:
You don't need to go there alone.-You don't have to go there alone.
She didn't have the second chance.- She didn't have a second chance.

Insufficient forms:
You needn't go there alone.
She hasn't got the second chance.

We wish you interesting practice and success!

Victoria Tetkina

Verbs- these are words that describe various actions, actions, processes or states. Initial form (die Grundform) the German verb is infinitive der Infinitiv, which ends in -(e)n: z.B. schlafen, machen, glauben, gucken...
If you remove the ending from the infinitive -en, then we get the stem of the verb (der Verbstamm), namely schlafen =>schlaf, glauben => glaub, gucken => guck, machen => mach.
German verbs are subject to conjugation, which means that they will change their shape depending on who performs the action and when.

The conjugation of German verbs can be divided into 4 criteria:

1. die Person und der Numerus - Person and number (singular or plural)

Example: conjugation of the verb glauben (to believe/believe)
Singular Plural
Person ich glaube (I believe) wir glauben (we believe)
Person du glaubst (do you believe) ihr glaubt (do you believe)
Person er|sie|es glaubt (he/she/it believes) sie glauben (they believe)

2. das Tempus (Zeit) - Time

Example: verbs singen (sing) and gehen (go)
Praesens er singt ich gehe
Perfect er hat gesungen ich bin gegangen
Future I er wird singen ich werde gehen
….

3. der Modus - mood

Indikativ (indicative) - Anna bleibt / Klaus meint
Konjunktiv I (subjunctive, used mainly in news, politics and books)—Anna bleibe/Klaus meine

4. die Handlungsrichtung - pledge (direction of action)

Active Matilda ruft ihr schlagt
Passive Matilda wird gerufen ihr werdet geschlagen

Also, in German there are different types of verbs: weak, strong, mixed, auxiliary, modal..

Part 2: Weak and strong German verbs

What is the difference between weak and strong German verbs?

Schwache Verben (weak verbs)

— When conjugating weak German verbs don't change basically vowel!

Infinitiv (Grundform) Präteritum Partizip II
sagen sagte gesagt
fragen fragte gefragt
tanzen tanzte getanzt
kaufen kaufte gekauft

— Weak verb in German forms the past tense form Präteritum by adding the ending -te to the verb stem:
sagen => sagte, fragen => fragte, kaufen => kaufte, tanzen => tanzte

— Weak verbs in Partizip II require a prefix before the base of the verb ge- and end with -t:
gesagt, gefragt, gekauft, getanzt

— Strong German verbs when conjugating change basically vowel! (examples with the verbs laufen (to run), trinken (to drink), treffen (to meet), versprechen (to promise)).

Infinitiv (Grundform) Pr ä teritum Partizip II
laufen lief gelaufen
trinken trunk getrunken
treffen traf getroffen
versprechen versprach versprochen

— Strong verbs form the past tense das Pr ä teritum,changing the vowel at the base. Strong verbs do not receive any ending in the 1st and 3rd person singular: ich trank, er lief. In other persons/numbers they receive endings as in the usual conjugation: wir tranken, du trankst, sie liefen, ihr lieft.

— Strong verb form in Partizip II ends with -en:
getrunken, getroffen, versprochen, gelaufen

Part 3: Mixed verbs in German - Mischverben

Mixed verbs appeared as a consequence combining the principles of formation of strong and weak verbs.
Mixed verbs, as well as strong ones, change their base vowel.
But, graduation mixed verbs have the same as with weak verbs -te(Pr ä teritum)/ -t(Partizip II).

Such verbs include: rennen (to rush, to run), kennen (to know, to be familiar with something), denken (to think), wissen (to know about something), nennen (to name), brennen (to burn), senden (to send), wenden (to turn over/turn)..
Infinitiv (Grundform) Pr ä teritum Partizip II
rennen rannte gerannt
kennen kannte gekannt
denken dachte gedacht
wissen wusste gewusst

Part 4: Verben mit regelmäßigen und unregelmäßigen Formen - verbs with regular and irregular forms.

In German they still exist verbs that have Pr ä teritum and Partizip II both regular and irregular forms. In most of these cases there is a difference in meaning.

Example with the verb senden:

Incorrect shape =>

Infinitiv (Grundform) Pr ä teritum Partizip II
senden sandte gesandt

Examples : Wir sandten ihnen einen Gruß aus der Heimat. — We sent you greetings from our homeland.
Die Firma hat mir die Ware direkt nach Hause gesandt.— The company sent the goods directly to my home.

Correct form =>

Infinitiv (Grundform) Pr ä teritum Partizip II
senden sendete gesendet

Examples: Das Fernsehen sendet heute eine interessante Komödie.— TV is broadcasting an interesting comedy today.
Das Radio hat vorgestern gar nichts gesendet.— The day before yesterday the radio didn’t broadcast anything. (They didn’t broadcast anything on the radio).