- Regular Verbs (Schwache Verben): These verbs follow a consistent pattern when conjugated. To form the past tense (Präteritum) and past participle (Partizip II), you typically add -te for the past tense and ge-...-t for the past participle.
- Irregular Verbs (Starke Verben): Irregular verbs have vowel changes in the stem when conjugated in the past tense and past participle forms. Their past participles usually end in -en.
- Mixed Verbs (Gemischte Verben): These verbs combine features of both regular and irregular verbs. They have a vowel change like irregular verbs but form the past tense with a -te ending like regular verbs.
- Modal Verbs: These verbs (können, wollen, müssen, sollen, dürfen, mögen) are used to express ability, permission, obligation, or desire. They are irregular and have unique conjugation patterns.
- Separable Verbs (Trennbare Verben): These verbs have prefixes that separate from the verb stem in the present tense and imperative. The prefix moves to the end of the sentence in main clauses.
- Inseparable Verbs (Untrennbare Verben): Verbs with prefixes like be-, ent-, er-, ver-, and zer- that do not separate in any tense.
- Reflexive Verbs: These verbs are used with a reflexive pronoun (mich, dich, sich) and indicate that the subject is performing the action on themselves.
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Table of Contents
- Regular Verbs
Explanation of how regular verbs (schwache Verben) are formed and conjugated in German, including rules for stem changes and endings.
- Irregular (Strong) Verbs
An overview of irregular (strong) verbs in German, including how they change stem vowels in different tenses and provide past participles for perfect tense formation. Use this guide to understand and conjugate strong verbs correctly.
- Stem-Changing Verbs
Stem-changing verbs in German, including how their stems change in different tenses and moods, along with common examples.
- Reflexive Verbs
Reflexive verbs are German verbs used with reflexive pronouns to indicate that the subject performs an action on itself. They express actions the subject does to or for itself.
- Modal Verbs (dürfen, können, mögen, müssen, sollen, wollen)
Modal verbs in German express ability, permission, necessity, desire, and obligation using six key verbs.
- Separable and Inseparable Prefix Verbs
Last updated: Wed Jun 18, 2025
