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Lesson 1: REGULAR VERBS
Verbs in German are composed of a stem and an
infinitive ending. For
example, in the verb machen (to make/do), mach
is the stem and en is the ending.
Accordingly, verbs in different points of view in the present tense
follow a general rule of thumb for verb endings, represented in the table
below.
Note: Informal
conjugation endings are used for du or ihr (plural).
Formal conjugation endings are only used when the pronoun is the formal Sie,
which can be used as singular or plural.
Basic Present Tense Verb Conjugation
| |
Singular |
Plural |
| First Person |
e |
en
|
| Second Person |
st (informal)
|
t (informal)
|
|
en (formal)
|
en (formal)
|
| Third Person |
t
|
en |
Using the verb machen, the verb is conjugated
as follows:
| |
Singular |
Plural |
| First Person |
mache |
machen
|
| Second Person |
machst (informal)
|
macht (informal)
|
|
machen (formal)
|
machen (formal)
|
| Third Person |
macht
|
machen |
Note:
- Verbs
in the present tense are translated to the English equivalents of I
make or I am making.
- For
certain verbs with a stem ending in z [such as tanzen (to
dance)], the du-form is no longer –st, but rather –t. So, the du-form of tanzen would be tanzt.
- For
verb stems ending in t or d, the du-form is changed from
–st to –est. So
for verbs like reden (to speak) and arbeiten
(to work), the du-forms are respectively redet and
arbeitet.
You
have just finished Unit 3 Lesson 1! Click
here if you would like to do some exercises to practice what you have just
learned!
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