Now we come to a little challenge. Some of the verbs
change their stem in the conjugation. These are called
strong verbs. Here are some examples:
infinitive
lesen
laufen
essen
schlafen
mögen
brechen
dürfen
fahren
geben
translation
to read
to walk
to eat
to sleep
to like
to break
to may
to drive
to give
ich
les-e
lauf-e
ess-e
schlaf-e
mag
brech-e
darf
fahr-e
geb-e
du
lies-t
läuf -st
iss-t
schläf-st
mag-st
brich-st
darf-st
fähr-st
gib-st
er/sie/es
lies-t
läuf-t
iss-t
schläf-t
mag
brich-t
darf
fähr-t
gib-t
wir
les-en
lauf-en
ess-en
schlaf-en
mög-en
brech-en
dürf-en
fahr-en
geb-en
ihr
les-t
lauf-t
ess-t
schlaf-t
mög-t
brech-t
dürf-t
fahr-t
geb-t
sie
les-en
lauf-en
ess-en
schlaf-en
mög-en
brech-en
dürf-en
fahr-en
geb-en
We admit that this does not real ease the issue of German
grammar. However, you can see it as the richness
of German language to be enjoyed. Furthermore,
other languages have other difficulties (English has lots
of irregular past tenses, not to mention French or Spanish!).
We'll continue with conjugations in chapter 15 past
tenses. Still it's best to take one step after another.