Die Verben auf Deutsch
So wie Englisch! Like English!
German verbs are also very similar to English. Just as verb endings change in English in order to match the
subject pronoun (this is called subject-verb agreement), so do German verbs change. In English we say “I
jump” and “he jumps,” but it is incorrect to say “I jumps” and “he jump”. Just as in English, in German we
must match the verb ending to the subject pronoun.
Here are the verb endings for the German pronouns:
How to conjugate a regular verb:
Step 1: Draw and fill in the pronoun T-chart with the 9 German pronouns.
Step 2: Write the German verb in its infinitive (full) form and its English meaning on top of the T-Chart.
Step 3: Find the stem of the verb (infinitive verb minus –en
).
(usually)
Step 4: Add the ending for each pronoun to the stem of the verb and write the conjugation next to the
pronoun in the T-chart.
Note: There are two verbs that we will learn early on that do NOT follow this pattern: haben (to have) and sein (to be).