German verbs come in three kinds: weak (regular), strong (irregular) and a small group of mixed verbs.
Strong verbs are the ones that change their stem vowel to form the past tenses, so their forms are not fully predictable from the infinitive. They are a minority of all German verbs, but they include many of the most common, everyday words, which is why they are worth learning early.
This guide explains how they work and lists the most useful ones with the forms you actually need.
A strong verb forms its simple past (Präteritum) and past participle (Partizip II) by changing its stem vowel, rather than by adding regular endings.
Compare the regular verb spielen (spielte, gespielt) with the strong verb sprechen (sprach, gesprochen): the vowel itself changes.
Many strong verbs also change their vowel in the present tense, but only in the du and er/sie/es forms (for example, ich spreche but du sprichst, er spricht).
To use a strong verb confidently you need three "principal parts": the infinitive, the Präteritum and the Partizip II. Learn these three principal parts, and you have the key forms you need to build and recognise the other forms.
Strong verbs fall into families that share the same vowel change, so learning them in groups is easier than one by one. "Aux." shows which auxiliary verb is used to form the perfect tense. Most verbs use haben; sein is commonly used with verbs describing movement or a change of state.
| Infinitive | Meaning | Präteritum | Partizip II | Aux. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sprechen | to speak | sprach | gesprochen | haben |
| geben | to give | gab | gegeben | haben |
| essen | to eat | aß | gegessen | haben |
| lesen | to read | las | gelesen | haben |
| sehen | to see | sah | gesehen | haben |
| nehmen | to take | nahm | genommen | haben |
| helfen | to help | half | geholfen | haben |
| treffen | to meet | traf | getroffen | haben |
| fahren | to drive / travel | fuhr | gefahren | sein / haben* |
| tragen | to carry / wear | trug | getragen | haben |
| schlafen | to sleep | schlief | geschlafen | haben |
| fallen | to fall | fiel | gefallen | sein |
| halten | to hold | hielt | gehalten | haben |
| laufen | to run | lief | gelaufen | sein / haben* |
| bleiben | to stay | blieb | geblieben | sein |
| schreiben | to write | schrieb | geschrieben | haben |
| finden | to find | fand | gefunden | haben |
| singen | to sing | sang | gesungen | haben |
| trinken | to drink | trank | getrunken | haben |
| schwimmen | to swim | schwamm | geschwommen | sein / haben* |
| klingen | to sound | klang | geklungen | haben |
| gelten | to be valid | galt | gegolten | haben |
| gehen | to go | ging | gegangen | sein |
| kommen | to come | kam | gekommen | sein |
* Some verbs can take sein or haben depending on their meaning or use. For example, Ich bin nach Berlin gefahren (I travelled to Berlin) but Ich habe das Auto gefahren (I drove the car).
Seeing them in sentences makes the forms stick.
Sie hat das Buch gelesen (she has read the book).
Er ist mit dem Zug gefahren (he went by train).
Du hast mir sehr geholfen (you helped me a lot).
Sie ist gestern geschwommen (she swam yesterday).
Er hat einen Apfel gegessen (he ate an apple).
Many verbs that describe movement from one place to another use sein in the perfect, such as gehen and fahren. Other verbs typically use haben.
Modal verbs such as müssen, dürfen and können are irregular as well, but they follow their own patterns and are best learned separately.
Strong German verbs change their stem vowel to build the past, so the trick is to learn three parts for each: infinitive, Präteritum and Partizip II.
They cluster into vowel-change families, which turns a long list into a handful of patterns, and because so many everyday verbs are strong, the effort pays off quickly.
A German course with SPRACHCAFFE is the fastest way to fix these patterns through real practice.
A strong verb changes its stem vowel to form the past tense and past participle, a pattern called ablaut. "Gehen" (to go) becomes "ging" and "gegangen", unlike weak verbs, which simply add regular endings.
Weak verbs are regular: they keep the stem and add -te in the past and ge…t in the participle (machen, machte, gemacht). Strong verbs change the vowel and take an -en participle (singen, sang, gesungen).
High-frequency examples include sein (to be), haben (to have), gehen (to go), kommen (to come), sehen (to see), nehmen (to take) and sprechen (to speak). Because they are so common, they are worth learning first.
Learn them in their three principal parts, infinitive, past and participle, and group verbs that share the same vowel change. Using them in real sentences, for example on a course with SPRACHCAFFE, fixes the forms faster than tables alone.
