​Two common verbs

The first two German verbs that we looked at are the most common. They are also irregular verbs. We looked at "haben" (to have) and "sein" (to be).
Verbs are irregular when we cannot predict the ending of the verb based on a common pattern.

Let's have a look at them again on the next two slides.

German

Verb endings

Sein (to be)

German

Verb endings

​As you can see, none of the verbs look like the infinitive (i.e. the 'to' form of the verb).

The verb changes almost completely based on the person we are talking about.

Because it is an irregular verb, you can't guess what the ending for each person is going to be, you just have to learn it.

Haben (to have)

German

Verb endings

​Haben is also an irregular verb, although the endings look more recognisable than they do for the verb sein (to be).

For example, the endings for "wir" and "Sie/sie" look the same as the infinitive.

Regular verbs

Unlike the two verbs we just looked at, regular verb endings follow a predictable pattern. This means that if we know the verb in the infinitive form (i.e. the "to" form, for example "to play", "to run", "to live", etc), we can work out the verb endings for each person (I, you, she, etc.)

German

Verb endings

Regular verbs

German

Verb endings

​To work out the endings for regular verbs, follow these steps.

1. Take the infinitive form, e.g. "wohnen" (to live).

2. Take the stem of the verb "wohn".

3. Add the correct ending (see the table on the left).

All regular verbs in German follow the same pattern.

Regular verbs

German

Verb endings

​As we mentioned, once you know the infinitive, you can work out the endings for all regular verbs, by adding the correct ending to the stem.

In German, regular verbs have a different ending for almost every person, except we and they, which are the same as the infinitive. In English, only the ending for he/she/it changes.