What are Strong Verbs? (Starke Verben)
German has just a handful of really irregular verbs like „sein“ and „haben“. But that doesn't mean that all the other verbs are 100% regular!
Strong Verbs change vowel when conjugated:
- laufen ⇒ du läufst
- sehen ⇒ du siehst
- geben ⇒ du gibst
What do we have to change?
Only the vowels "e" and "a" are going to be changed.
They almost always change if they are the second letter in the verb (excluding any Prefix).
BUT: The vowels "i," "o," and "u" will never change!
- geben ⇒ du gibst
- fahren ⇒ du fährst
- um | fahren ⇒ du umfährst
NOTE: THE ENDING DOES NOT CHANGE!!!
When do we change the vowel?
The vowels "e" or "a" almost always change...
BUT only in the 2nd and 3rd Person singular!
geben:
- du gibst
- er / sie / es gibt
- wir geben
- ihr gebt
- sie / Sie geben
What does the vowel change to?
The vowel change is always: from "e" to "ie" or "i" OR from "a" to "ä"
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Summary
- "Starke Verben / Strong Verbs" have a vowel change when conjugated.
- Only "e" and "a" can change, and only in the 2nd and 3rd person singular.
- There is no universal rule, but a verb with "e" or "a" as the 2nd letter (excluding any prefix) will probably change.
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Related Topics:
Entire lesson in German only: Starke Verben
You can find more lessons on Verbs here:
- Was sind Verben? (What are Verbs?)
- „sein“ und „haben“ ("sein" and "haben")
- Reflexive Verben (Reflexive Verbs)
- Trennbare & Untrennbare Verben (Separable & Inseparable Verbs)
- Modalverben (Modal Verbs)
- Partizip 1 (Present Participle)
- Partizip 2 (Past Participle)
- Das Verb „werden” (Verb "werden")
- Das Verb „lassen” (Verb "lassen")
- Imperativ (Imperative)
- Konjunktiv 1 (Subjunctive 1)
- Konjunktiv 2 (Subjunctive 2)
- Das Passiv (Passive Voice)
- Vorgangspassiv (Process Passive)
- Das Passiv in allen zeitformen (Process Passive in all tenses)
- Verben ohne Passiv (Verbs without Passive voice)
- Zustandpassiv (Status Passive)
- Das unpersönliche Passiv (Impersonal Passive)
- Verben mit Ergänzungen (Verbs with Complements)
- Verben mit Nominativ (Verbs with Nominative)
- Verben mit Akkusativ (Verbs with Accusative)
- Verben mit doppeltem Akkusativ (Verbs with double Accusative)
- Verben mit Dativ (Verbs with Dative)
- Verben mit Akkusativ & Dativ (Verbs with Accusative & Dative)
- Verben mit Genitiv (Verbs with Genitive)
- Verben mit Präpositionen (Verbs with Prepositions)
Lists on the topic of German verbs:
- Die 30 wichtigsten Verben mit Vokalwechsel (The 30 most important verbs with vowel change)
- Untrennbare Präfixe (Inseparable Prefixes)
- Wechselpräfixe (Two-case Prefixes)
- Unregelmäßige Partizip 2 Formen (Irregular Participle 2 forms)
- Nomen-Verb-Verbindungen (Noun-Verb compounds)
You can find an overview of all topics under German Grammar.
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