Lesson 2: IRREGULAR VERBS
Irregular Verbs in General
With irregular verbs, some aspects of the conjugation
of normal verbs do not apply. Within
the conjugation, there may be a stem-vowel change, which is a change of
vowels within the stem of the verb. In
other cases, such as past tense forms of an irregular verb, the stem may
transform into something completely different.
Generally, the second and third person singular forms
change. All other conjugated
forms tend to be conjugated like a regular verb.
Learning how to use them properly takes practice and memorization,
but you will eventually develop an ear for them with exposure and
application.
German-English dictionaries tend to denote irregular
verbs with irr and usually give an example of it used in the
second or third person. Here
are several commonly used irregular verbs and their stem-vowel changes in
the present tense.
| aà
ä |
eà
i |
eà
ie |
|
backen (to bake)
|
geben (to give)
|
lesen (to read)
|
|
fallen (to fall)
|
helfen (to help)
|
nehmen (to take)
|
| fahren (to go, drive) |
treffen (to meet)
|
sehen (to see)
|
|
halten (to hold)
|
essen (to eat)
|
stehlen (to steal)
|
|
schlafen (to sleep)
|
sprechen (to speak)
|
treten (to step)
|
Ready
to move on? |
