Ultimate Guide To Irregular Verbs German With 57 German Grammar Examples
On Effortless Conversations, we already explained the basic German grammar rules and we also listed the 25 most common German verbs, but there’s another topic that we need to examine: irregular verbs German.
What are irregular verbs in German? And what are the most common German irregular verbs?
Your German teacher has a great video on YouTube that you should check out right now:
In this blog post, we’ll explain everything you need to know about irregular verbs German with tons of examples, and the 3 most common irregular verbs in German, too!
Los geht’s!
1. What are German irregular verbs?
Effortless Answers
To put it simply: irregular verbs in German are verbs that don’t follow the standard rules for conjugation. The German irregular verbs change their stem or form in different ways that are different from regular verbs in German.
First off: don’t sweat it!
The truth about irregular verbs in German is that even native speakers mix them up sometimes. The key to master them is simple – as it is with language learning altogether: practice, practice, practice.
In this post, we’ll give you a few tips you can keep in mind, so it’ll be easier for you to understand them:
- Know they exist: Just like in English, there are irregular verbs in German, too.
- Spot the patterns: Many irregular verbs change in similar ways – more on this later!
- Focus on common ones: Start with the most used irregular verbs – we’ll list the 3 most common ones.
- Practice: Regular use helps you remember these verbs – we have a special method for this!
2. The 3 most common irregular German verbs
Let’s start with the most common ones like:
You should use them in simple German sentences every day, whenever and wherever you can:
- “Ich bin müde” (I am tired)
- “Ich habe Hunger” (I have hunger/I’m hungry).
To help you with the most common irregular verbs German, here’s a comprehensive table with their correct conjugation:
| Person | sein | haben | werden |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | bin | habe | werde |
| du | bist | hast | wirst |
| er/sie/es | ist | hat | wird |
| wir | sind | haben | werden |
| ihr | seid | habt | werdet |
| sie/Sie | sind | haben | werden |
As you can see, “sein” is probably the most irregular of the bunch. “Haben” keeps the same stem but changes endings. “Werden” changes its stem in the du and er/sie/es forms. These 3 most common irregular verbs German basically predict all you have to keep an eye out for if you’re talking about the irregular verbs in German.
Let’s explore them!
3. 3 different types of irregular verbs in German
German has different types of irregular verbs, and each of them changes differently:
- Strong verbs: These change their vowel in different tenses.
- Mixed verbs: They combine features of strong and weak verbs.
- Modal verbs: Special verbs that express ability, permission, or obligation.
Let’s start with strong German verbs, and explore the rest after them!
Strong German verbs
Strong German verbs are part of the irregular verb family, but they have their own characteristics.
Strong verbs change their vowel sound in different tenses. This is called “ablaut.” It’s a bit like how we say “sing, sang, sung” in English. Of course in German, everything else is on the next level!
Lucky for you, most strong verbs do follow patterns.
For example, many verbs with “ei” in the present tense change to “ie” in the past tense, or even change vowels and stems completely:
- bleiben -> blieb (to stay)
- reisen -> reiste (to travel)
- essen -> aß (to eat)
- vergessen -> vergaß (to forget)
- lesen -> las (to read)
- sehen -> sah (to see)
- geben -> gab (to give)
There are about 150 strong verbs in German. That might sound like a lot, but many are common words you’ll use often. And, of course, we have examples for you:
| Infinitive | Irregular Form |
|---|---|
| anfangen (to begin) | fing an (began) |
| ankommen (to arrive) | kam an (arrived) |
| backen (to bake) | buk (baked) |
| fahren (to drive/go) | fuhr (drove/went) |
| fallen (to fall) | fiel (fell) |
| fliegen (to fly) | flog (flew) |
| gehen (to go) | ging (went) |
| helfen (to help) | half (helped) |
| kommen (to come) | kam (came) |
| laufen (to run) | lief (ran) |
| schlafen (to sleep) | schlief (slept) |
| schreiben (to write) | schrieb (wrote) |
| singen (to sing) | sang (sang) |
| sitzen (to sit) | saß (sat) |
| steigen (to climb) | stieg (climbed) |
| tragen (to carry) | trug (carried) |
| treffen (to meet) | traf (met) |
| vergessen (to forget) | vergaß (forgot) |
| wachsen (to grow) | wuchs (grew) |
| ziehen (to pull) | zog (pulled) |
Mixed German verbs
Mixed verbs in German are the rebels of the German verb world.
They’re a bit of both worlds – part regular, part irregular.
Here’s what it’s all about:
Mixed verbs change their vowel in the past tense and past participle, just like strong verbs. But they keep the regular -te ending in the past tense and -t in the past participle. It’s like they couldn’t decide which team to join!
| Infinitive | Past | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| kennen (to know) | kannte | gekannt |
| denken (to think) | dachte | gedacht |
| bringen (to bring) | brachte | gebracht |
| rennen (to run) | rannt | gerannt |
There aren’t many mixed verbs in German, which is good news for you.
Here are the most common ones:
| Infinitive | Past | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| arbeiten (to work) | arbeitete | gearbeitet |
| ändern (to change) | änderte | geändert |
| fragen (to ask) | fragte | gefragt |
| sammeln (to collect) | sammelte | gesammelt |
| kosten (to cost) | kostete | gekostet |
| öffnen (to open) | öffnete | geöffnet |
| schmecken (to taste) | schmeckte | geschmeckt |
| spielen (to play) | spielte | gespielt |
| lernen (to learn) | lernte | gelernt |
| verstehen (to understand) | verstand | verstanden |
| reparieren (to repair) | reparierte | repariert |
| kaufen (to buy) | kaufte | gekauft |
| warten (to wait) | wartete | gewartet |
| verändern (to change) | veränderte | verändert |
| zeigen (to show) | zeigte | gezeigt |
| bieten (to offer) | bot | geboten |
| passen (to fit) | passte | gepasst |
| suchen (to search) | suchte | gesucht |
| schicken (to send) | schickte | geschickt |
| erklären (to explain) | erklärte | erklärt |
Modal and auxiliary verbs
Modal verbs in German express ides like ability, permission, or obligation.
There are 6 main modal verbs in German
- können (can, to be able to)
- müssen (must, to have to)
- dürfen (may, to be allowed to)
- sollen (should, ought to)
- wollen (to want to)
- mögen (to like)
The modal verbs are irregular in the present tense. The ich and er/sie/es forms often look the same. And there’s one more thing about them: in German sentences, they push the main verb to the end in its infinitive form.
In sentences, they push the main verb to the end in its infinitive form:
- “Ich kann Deutsch sprechen” (I can speak German).
In the past tense, most modal verbs use the regular -te ending, but their stem might change, like this:
| Infinitive | Past | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| dürfen (to be allowed to) | durfte | gedurft |
| können (to be able to) | konnte | gekonnt |
| mögen (to like) | mochte | gemocht |
| müssen (to have to) | musste | gemusst |
| sollen (to be supposed to) | sollte | gesollt |
| wollen (to want) | wollte | gewollt |
4. How to spot regular and irregular verbs in German?
Alright, let’s crack this one important question!
Now, finding the irregular verbs German isn’t as tough as it might seem. You just have to keep an eye out for verbs that look a bit… off. 🙂
If a verb doesn’t end with the usual -en in its infinitive form, that’s basically your first clue. From this blog post, you already know that words like “sein” and “tun” are dead giveaways.
And in German conversations, listen for verbs that change their vowel sounds. Let’s say, someone says “Ich ging” instead of “Ich gehe,” you’ve just heard an irregular verb in action!
Because: “gehen” (to go) is irregular, and “ging” is its past tense form. Easy, right?!
Another trick: watch for verbs that don’t follow the typical conjugation patterns. If you hear “er fährt” instead of “er fahrt,” you’ve caught another vowel change – this time, “fahren” (to drive) being irregular in the present tense.
You can also easily remember the modal verbs because they have different conjugation patterns. They are completely irregular in different German tenses.
And one more thing: trust your gut!
You’ve been tackling German verbs in context for a while now, so if a verb form sounds strange or unexpected, chances are it’s irregular. The more you listen and read, the better your “irregular verb radar” will get. And this brings us to our special method…
Let’s have a look!
5. Practice irregular verbs German with our pre-made flashcards sets
What better way to practice German than to do so with flashcards?!
Here’s part of the exercise we came up with for irregular verbs in German:
If you want to practice more, you can request the full practice worksheet right here:
6. Learn many irregular verbs German with Conversation Based Chunking
German language is sometimes hard but still logical. You can use German irregular verbs now, because you covered the basics with us. But how exactly do you do that?
Do you also look at regular German verbs, and use regular and irregular forms together? Well, the best way to get used to the verb conjugation forms is if you learn German with a reoccurring habit. And Conversation Based Chunking is a method that could help you learn the German irregular verbs without too much hassle.
Instead of memorizing which verbs require regular ending and which verbs typically are irregular, you should aim for looking for similar patterns in the language. And the best way to do that is to immerse yourself with German tv shows, German podcasts and more.
Keep an eye out for the frequently used verbs and phrases, and you’ll learn naturally with these chunks. If you’re eager to learn more, you can request the German Conversation Based Chunking right now!
In this pack, you’ll find practice exercises, chunking lists and other useful resources to learn the regular forms and the irregular ones, too. 🙂
