Declination of German verbs: rules and practice

There are a lot of endings in German, unlike English, it will take more than one hour to master and consolidate the topic. It is recommended to break all the material into blocks (they are given at the end of the article) and master them sequentially, moving on to the next only after confident possession of the previous one. Confident - this means: when constructing phrases, you can independently use the verb in the right time, person, number, without hesitation, time for reflection, without looking at look-up tables.

General Conjugation Rules for German Verbs

The declension of German verbs is carried out according to a simple scheme. To begin, isolate the components of the word: stem and ending (-en or –n). Examples:

1. Lernen (to study): lern is the basis, -en is the ending.
2. Lachen (laugh): lach - basis, -en - ending.
3. Lesen (read): les is the basis, -en is the ending.
4. Meißeln (hollow): meißel is the base, -n is the ending.

Now just add the correct ending to the base. They vary depending on:

1. Persons (first, second, third).
2. Numbers (singular, plural).
3. Time (in German five actively used times).

Strong or weak?

Strong verbs will have to be studied separately, they can be called exceptions. Special tables with conjugation of strong verbs are given in any German grammar manual, and in the dictionaries such verbs are marked with an asterisk. Although there are certain patterns in their conjugation, it is too laborious to derive them. With their declination, the root vowel may change. Weak verbs conjugate the same way, according to one pattern, most of them in German. It is worth starting with the study of the declension of German verbs with weak ones.

Conjugation of weak verbs

The endings and conjugations of weak verbs in the present tense (prasens) are given in the table. For example, verbs are taken: read (lernen), werfen (throw), verzeihen (forgive).

A few more simple German verbs in the present tense in the table below:

Practice trying to decline the following weak German verbs (among the most popular and popular): arbeiten - to work, fragen - to ask, antworten - to answer, atmen - to breathe, aussehen - to look, bauen - to build, bedeuten - to mean, besuchen - to visit, dauern - last, erzählen - tell, erinnern - remember, führen - lead, drive, heilen - treat, kaufen - buy, küssen - kiss, kosten - stand, lachen - laugh, malen - draw, pflanzen - plant, pflegen - care, reden - talk, sagen - talk, spielen - play, spazieren - walk, sammeln - collect, träumen - me read, tadeln - scold, vertrauen - trust, warten - wait, zahlen - pay.

How to learn conjugation of German verbs

Rule number 1 - do not overload yourself. When looking at the declension tables of German verbs in reference books, many people have a certain psychological phenomenon that has not yet been studied enough and has no name, but with very specific symptoms: too much and obviously excessive amount of upcoming work reduces interest, motivation and, as a result, worsens the assimilation of the material . The brain, even with the study scheme correctly built in the future, seems to be starting to resist. Do not push. After reading the rules above, take pieces of new material that are feasible for yourself.

So, you need to master:

1. Varieties of verbs. There are five of them: regular, irregular, verbs with a detachable or inseparable prefix and verbs ending in –ieren. Each of these groups of verbs has its own conjugation features.
2. Strong verb groups. In each of these groups or subgroups, strong (irregular) verbs bow equally. Parsing one such group in one lesson is more convenient than studying tables in which all strong verbs are given in a row.
3. The declension of reflexive verbs or verbs with reflexive pronoun sich. In general, it does not differ from the general conjugation scheme of weak verbs, but there are nuances.
4. Topic “Modal Verbs”.
5. Verbs with two forms of conjugation. They can be inclined both as strong and as weak, pay special attention to verbs with two meanings (according to the value, the type of conjugation is determined).
6. The declension of German verbs in the past tense (Präteritum, Perfekt, Plusquamperfekt). Many reference books cite three popular forms: the infinitive, the simple past tense, and the participle used to create perfect tense (Partizip II).
7. Declination in special forms of the German future tense (Futur I and Futur II).
8. The declension of German verbs in different moods (two forms of the subjunctive mood - Konjunktiv I and Konjunktiv II, and the imperative mood, that is, the imperative).

For example, the table below shows the conjugations in the present tense of some strong verbs:

Immediately it is worthwhile to at least superficially familiarize yourself with conjugation of modal verbs. They are widely used:

Verb declension to have

The declension of the German verb haben must be considered separately. This verb is one of the most common. It is noteworthy that the two most important verbs haben and sein are inflected according to an individual pattern. By the way, this is typical for most languages ​​of the romance group. For comparison, in parentheses in the table is the weak verb machen (do), inclined according to the rules. The forms are indicated only for the present, simple past and perfect tenses. Try to analyze the differences yourself - this is enough to activate the memory and remember the non-standard forms of the verb haben.

A simple analysis shows that there are not many differences. To learn the forms of the verb conjugations, you just need to remember the forms in Präsens for the second and third person, in the past tense, the base itself changes, and in Perfect everything follows the standard pattern.

The verb haben is used:

1. Independently.
2. As an auxiliary verb for perfect forms.
3. In modal design haben + zu + Infinitiv.

The declension of the verb to be

The declension of the German verb sein also needs to be studied separately. A table with forms (for comparison, the weak verb suchen is given - search):

In addition to its direct purpose, the verb be used in German:

• as a linking verb (in Russian, it is implied in such cases, but omitted);
• to build impersonal sentences;
• as an auxiliary verb for the formation of the past tense;
• in the modal scheme sein + zu + infinitiv.

Given the frequency of use, it is not worthwhile to devote a lot of time to studying the conjugation forms of the verb sein: they are all well absorbed in the process of studying other topics.

The declension of the verb werden

He should also pay special attention. This trinity - haben, sein, werden can be safely considered the most important, because these verbs are used everywhere. Both as auxiliary, and independently. For comparison, the weak verb weinen is cry.

The verb warden used:

1. As an independent verb in the meaning of becoming.
2. As an auxiliary verb for the formation of forms of the future tense.
3. For the formation of verbs in the subjunctive mood Konjunktiv I and Konjunktiv II.
4. To express assumptions.
5. For the formation of passive voice at all times.

Summary table of the most popular forms of the most popular verbs (present):

The study of the declension of irregular verbs in German is much easier than it seems at first glance. It is not worthwhile to devote serious time to studying the forms of these most popular verbs. It is enough to read once, trying to remember them, and then try to compose life phrases from each of the forms. Try to remember the desired shape yourself. Look in the reference book only after really efforts to remember. Such efforts stimulate memory and form associative connections - it is much more effective than mechanical memorization. Most students need just one such exercise. Although it will not be superfluous to repeat it in a day. But, as a rule, in the future the material is fixed along the course of other topics, do not forget to just monitor the regularity and coherence (each subsequent topic contains at least a little bit from the previous one) classes.

The situation with strong verbs is similar. Surprisingly, most of them are among the most popular. It is necessary to devote some time to familiarizing yourself with them, but the consolidation of the material can be combined with the study of other topics.

That’s all you need to know to successfully start diving into the topic. Be prepared to swim a lot more. In any case, armed with this information, as well as a good guide to German grammar, you will not drown and will be able to confidently move forward.