C Apt r7: Ve Bs
C Apt r7: Ve Bs
C Apt r7: Ve Bs
Verbs
VERB OVERVIEW
In G erman, as in English, verbs are words that express an action, a process, or a state of being, for
example, to read, to redden, to become.
Personal Endings
However, unlike most English verb forms, German verbs normally take personal endings, which
indicate both the person and the number of the subject of that verb. German, like English, distinguishes
between the fir st person, the second person, and the third person. Moreover, each person can be either
singular or plural. The present tense personal endings are introduced on p. 139, and the past tense
personal endings are found on pp. 148 and 150.
Certain forms of the verb, such as the infinitive, the present participle, and the past participle, do
not take personal endings. H owever, if the participles are used as adjectives, they take adjective endings
(see Chapter 5).
Verb Tenses
In German, as in other languages, verbs have tense ; that is, different forms of the verb indicate the
time when the action of the verb takes place, e.g. present, past, or future tense. Tense can be indicated
by the personal ending on the verb as well as by the choice of the auxilliary, or helping verb used to
form the compound tenses .
137
138 VERBS [CHAP. 7
are irregular. Since, however, there are irregular weak verbs and certain predictable p atterns fo r the
strong verbs, we will not use the terms regular and irregular verbs, but will instead refer to verbs as
weak, strong, or mixed.
Since the patterns for the strong verbs and the irregular weak verbs are not fully
predictable, it is essential to learn all the principal parts of such verbs when they
are first introduced.
The three principal parts of a verb that must be learned are the infinitive, the past tense, and the past
participle. In some cases a fourth form of the German verb must also be memorized- the second or
third person singular of the present tense, since a small group of strong verbs also have vowel changes
in these forms. (The most common strong and mixed German verbs are summarized in the Verb Chart
on pp. 285-286.)
Speakers of English are already familiar with the phenomenon that some verbs have no vowel
changes in their various forms while others do. Compare, for example, regular verbs such as play,
played, pluyed or paint, painted, painted with irregular verbs such as sing, sang, sung or think, thought,
thought.
Study the principal parts of strong and weak verbs as illustrated by the verbs spielen (to play) and
singen (to sing).
In German the infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb. Typically the infinitive ends in -en. A
few end in -eln, -ern, -n. The infinitive stem is derived by dropping the -en or -n from the infinitive.
The present tense personal endings that must be added to the infinitive stem are:
CHAP. 7] VERBS 139
Singular Plural
Note: Since the same personal ending is used for e r, sie, andes , all conjugations presented in this
book will list only er (third person singular masculine). Similarly, Sie (the form for "you" formal) will
not be listed separately since it takes the same personal ending as sie (they).
Note on personal endings
In informal conversational German the -e ending of the first person is often dropped.
Nate: There is only one present tense form in German. Thus the three forms of the present tense in
English, I think, I do think, and I am thinking, are all translated with ich denke.
Below are some examples of present tense verbs used in sentences.
The following is a list of a number of weak and strong verbs whose infinitives end in -en. They form
their present tense according to the pattern just described. Note that the weak verbs ending in -ieren
also belong to this group.
1. Complete the following with the appropriate forms of the present tense of the indicated verbs.
Singular Plural
2. Complete the following with the appropriate forms of the present tense of the indicated verbs.
1. Cornelia _ _ _ _ _ _ auf den Bus. warten
2. du in das Brot? schneiden
3. Man auch sonntags hier. arbeiten
4. Worum du? bitten
142 VERBS [CHAP. 7
No additional s sound
When the stem of the infinitive ends in -s, -B, -x, -z, the personal ending for the second person
singular is -t (rather than -st). No additional s sound is required. Thus the forms of the second and third
person singular are identical. All other endings are regular.
3. Form sentences from the following, using the present tense of the verbs.
1. Wie I heil3en I du? 5. Wohin I reisen I du?
2. Was I mixen I du ? 6. Was I hassen I du ?
3. Du I tanzen I gut 7. Wo lsitzen l du?
4. Warum I griil3en I du I mich I nicht? 8. Beil3en I du I in den Apfel?
When the infinitive ends in -eln or -ern the ending in the first and third person plural is -n. Thus
these forms are identical to the infinitive.
4. Complete the following with the appropriate forms of the present tense.
1. Das Kind _ _ _ _ _ _ auf den Tisch. klettern
2. Wohin wir? wandern
3. Ich seine Courage. bewundern
4. Man Sie sofort. behandeln
5. Wann du die Katze? fottern
6. Wir nichts. iindern
7. Ich doch nicht. liicheln
8. Die Arzte sie schon. behandeln
9. Das Telefbn klingeln
10. Wir alles. sammeln
11. Ich den Patienten. behandeln
12. Die Kinder den Hund. fottern
13. Ich nichts. sammeln
14. Wir auf den Berg. klettern
Changes from e to i, ie
Most strong verbs with an e in the infinitive stem change their stem vowels to i or ie in the second
and third person singular. Study the following forms :
Important exceptions
gehen and stehen
Although gehen and stehen are strong verbs containing e in their stems, they do not have the
changes in the present tense described above (du gehst, er geht; du stehst, er steht).
nehmen
Note that the verb nehmen (to take) has an irregular spelling pattern. Study the following forms:
"~"'-,
'Irregular Verb§
The present tense of sein (to be), haben (to have), werden (to get, become), wissen (to know), and
tun (to do) is irregular. Study the following:
7. Complete the following with the correct forms of the present tense of sein.
9. Complete the following. Supply the correct forms of the present tense of werden. Follow the
model.
Wir werden schon wieder gesund.
Future meaning
As in English, the present tense in German can be used to indicate that an event will take place in
the future. The future meaning is conveyed by the context or by an adverbial expression indicating
future time.
12. Answer the following questions affirmatively. Write complete sentences, using the present tense.
1. Kommst du morgen ?
2. Hater iibermorgen Geburtstag?
3. Geht ihr morgen abend ins Theater?
4. Fliegen Sie im Juli nach Frankfurt?
5. Fii.hrst du nachstes Jahr nach Regensburg?
6. Besuchst du mich heute in acht Tagen?
7. Sind Sie nachsten Monat in Deutschland?
8. Bist du morgen abend zu Hause?
9. Habt ihr nachste Woche Zeit?
10. Spielt sie nachsten Samstag Golf?
Continued action
The present tense is used in German to express the fact that an action has been started in the past
and continues into the present. In English one of the past tenses is used to express continued action. In
German the time element is usually introduced by schon or seit, corresponding to the Englishfor.
lch wohne schon zwei Monate hier. I have been living here for two months.
Er ist seit einer Woche in Paris. He has been in Paris for one week.
13. Complete the following with the appropriate forms of the indicated verbs.
1. Ich _ _ _ __ _ schon seit einem Monat. warten
2. Ute seit zehn Jahren hier. wohnen
3. Er schon eine Stunde dort. sein
CHAP. 7] VERBS 147
14. Answer the following questions with complete sentences, using the cues.
1. Seit wann liest du schon? eine Stunde
2. Wie lange studiert er schon? zehn Tage
3. Seit wann bist du hier ? funf Minuten
4. Wie lange kennst du ihn schon? sechs Jahre
5"'·· Wie lange telefonierst du schon? zwanzig Minuten
Review
15. Complete the following with the correct forms of the present tense of the indicated verbs.
1. Warum _ __ _ __ du ein Loch ? graben
2. lch sofort. kommen
3. Man hier nicht. latifen
4. Was du daran? iindern
5. Wir die Vogel. fottern
6. _ _ __ _ _ ihr auch krank? sein
7. Georg _ _ _ _ __ Beamter. werden
8. Wohin du? reisen
9. Hilde schon den ganzen Tag. arbeiten
10. _ _ _ _ _ _ du die Zeitung? lesen
11. Wir _ _ _ _ __ sehr Ieise. atmen
12. Das Tier fressen
13. Wohin ihr? fahren
14. Das Kind den Ball. fangen
15. Ich das Auto. waschen
16. Wir ihn nicht. gruj3en
17. _ _ _ _ _ _ Sie hungrig? sein
18. Meine Geschwister die Antwort. wissen
19. Warum du so lange? schlafen
20. Es schon wieder kalt. werden
21. Helga dort. stehen
22. Was die Studenten? studieren
23. Wo du ? bluten
24. Ich klingeln
25. Wie du? heij3en
26. Was er? essen
27. Wann du Franz das Auto? geben
28. Manfred seine Freundin. sehen
29. Wir den Kranken. behandeln
30. W o du? sit zen