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Verbs (Verben)

Verbs are the engine of a German sentence. They describe actions (laufen - to run), states (sein - to be), or processes (werden - to become).

Understanding German verbs requires mastering two main concepts:

  1. Conjugation: How a verb changes its ending to match a subject (e.g., ich gehe, du geh**st).
  2. Syntax: Where the verb is placed in a sentence. In German, the verb's position is the most important rule of grammar (e.g., V2 rule, V-Final rule).

This section covers all aspects of how to form, change, and use verbs correctly.

In This Section

Core Concepts

  • Auxiliary Verbs (Hilfsverben) The three most important verbs: haben, sein, and werden. Learn how they are used to build tenses and the passive voice.

  • Conjugation (Konjugation) The fundamental rules for changing verb endings to match a subject (ich, du, er...) in the present tense.

  • Irregular Verbs (Unregelmäßige Verben) A guide to strong and mixed verbs, which change their stem vowels (e.g., sehen -> sieht), and their essential "principal parts" (sehen, sah, gesehen).

  • Separable Verbs (Trennbare Verben) Learn the "sentence bracket" rule for verbs like anrufen, where the prefix moves to the end of the sentence (Ich rufe dich an**).

Tenses (Zeiten)

  • Tenses (Zeiten) A complete overview of the six German tenses, with a focus on the practical differences between the Perfekt (spoken past) and Präteritum (written past).

Moods & Voices