5.2.1 German Conjugation - Strong Verbs


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.





contact privacy statement imprint