Humanities › Languages

German Strong Verbs - Conjugating

Irregular German Verbs
You'll Need to Memorize These German Verb Conjugations

Share
SHARE Flipboard
FLIP Email
EMAIL

by Hyde Flippo
Updated August 05, 2016

German verbs that have irregular forms are also called strong verbs.Their conjugated
forms must be memorized. Weak (regular) verbs follow a predictable pattern and do not
vary the way that strong verbs do. There are also mixed verbs that combine elements of
weak and strong verbs.

Only some compound verbs are listed (i.e., anfangen). To conjugate other compound
verbs based on other verbs, e.g., abgeben, based on geben, simply use the stem verb (in
this case "geben") with the prefix (in this case "ab") to get the past (gab ab) or past
participle (abgegeben).
Participles that require sein as a helping verb are indicated by ist in front of the past
participle. The English meaning shown for each verb may be only one of several possible
meanings.

This verb chart uses the new German spelling (die neue Rechtschreibung).

STARKE VERBEN - STRONG VERBS

Infinitiv Präteritum Perfekt

(Preterite) (Past Participle)

AAA
anfangen begin fing an began angefangen begun

ankommen arrive kam an arrived ist angekommen arrived

anrufen call up rief an called up angerufen called up

BBB

backen bake backte baked gebacken baked

befehlen befahl commanded befohlen commanded

command

beginnen begin begann began begonnen begun

beißen bite biss bit gebissen bitten

bekommen get, bekam got bekommen gotten

receive

bergen salvage barg salvaged geborgen salvaged

bersten burst barst burst geborsten burst

betrügen deceive betrog deceived betrogen deceived

biegen bend bog bent gebogen bent

bieten offer bot offered geboten offered

binden tie band tied gebunden tied

bitten request bat requested gebeten requested

blasen blow blies blew geblasen blown

bleiben stay blieb stayed ist geblieben stayed

bleichen bleach blich bleached geblichen bleached

braten roast briet roasted gebraten roasted

brechen break brach broke gebrochen broken

brennen* burn brannte burned gebrannt burned

bringen* bring brachte brought gebracht brought

*Both brennen and bringen are "mixed" verbs, combining elements of strong and
weak verbs.

DDD

denken* think dachte thought gedacht thought

*The verb denken is a "mixed" verb, combining elements of strong and weak verbs.

dreschen thresh drosch threshed gedroschen threshed

dringen force drang forced gedrungen forced

dürfen may durfte was allowed gedurft* been allowed

*Used with an infinitive, as for all modals, the past participle is the infinitive dürfen:
"Wir haben nicht gehen dürfen."

EEE

empfangen empfing received empfangen received

receive

empfehlen empfahl recommended empfohlen recommended

recommend

erfinden invent erfand invented erfunden invented

erlöschen erlosch extinguished erloschen extinguished

extinguish

erschallen echo, erscholl sounded erschollen sounded

sound

erschrecken* erschrak scared erschrocken scared

scare

*This verb has both strong (passive) and weak (active) forms: "Ich habe ihn
erschreckt." (I scared him.) and "Ich erschrak bei der Explosion." (I was startled/scared
by the explosion.)
essen eat aß ate gegessen eaten

FFF

fahren travel fuhr traveled ist gefahren traveled

fallen fall fiel fell ist gefallen fallen

fangen catch fing caught gefangen caught

fechten fence focht fenced gefochten fenced

finden find fand found gefunden found

fliegen fly flog flew ist geflogen flown

fliehen flee floh fled ist geflohen fled

fließen flow floss flowed ist geflossen flowed

fressen gorge fraß gorged gefressen gorged

frieren freeze fror froze gefroren* frozen

*The verb frieren takes the helping verb haben or sein, depending on its meaning. In
most cases ("to be cold") it is "hat gefroren," but in the meaning of "to freeze, turn into
ice," it is "Der Boden / Das Wasser ist steif gefroren." (The ground / water has frozen
solid.)

frohlocken frohlockte rejoiced frohlockt rejoiced

rejoice

Infinitiv Präteritum Perfekt

(Preterite) (Past Participle)

gären ferment gor fermented gegoren fermented

gebären bear gebar bore geboren born

(child)

geben give gab gave gegeben given

gedeihen flourish gedieh flourished ist gediehen flourished

gefallen be gefiel liked gefallen liked

pleasing, like

gehen go ging went ist gegangen gone

gelingen succeed gelang succeeded ist gelungen succeeded

gelten be valid galt was valid gegolten been valid

genesen recover genas recovered genesen recovered

genießen enjoy genoß enjoyed genossen enjoyed

geschehen geschah happened ist geschehen happened

happen

gewinnen win gewann won gewonnen won

gießen pour goß poured gegossen poured

gleichen resemble glich resembled geglichen resembled

gleiten glide, slide glitt glided ist geglitten glided

glimmen glow, glomm* glowed ist geglommen* glowed

smoulder

*Also glimmte and hat geglimmt (weak)

graben dig grub dug gegraben dug

greifen grasp griff grasped gegriffen grasped

haben have hatte had gehabt had

Complete conjugation of the verb haben in the present tense

halten hold hielt held gehalten held

hängen hang hing hung/hanged* gehangen hung/hanged*

*The verb hängen is weak in transitive situations ("Er hängte das Bild an die Wand.")

and strong in intransitive situations ("Das Bild hing an der Wand.").

hauen hew, hit haute* hit gehauen hit

*The strong past form hieb is used when the meaning is "struck (him) with a weapon."

heben lift hob lifted gehoben lifted

heißen be called hieß named geheißen named

helfen help half helped geholfen helped

kennen* know kannte knew gekannt known

*The verb kennen is a "mixed" verb, combining elements of strong and weak verbs.

klingen ring klang rang geklungen rung

kneifen pinch kniff pinched gekniffen pinched

kommen come kam came ist gekommen come

können can konnte could gekonnt* could

*With an infinitive, the past participle is können: "Ich habe nicht gehen können."

kriechen crawl kroch crawled ist gekrochen crawled

laden load lud loaded geladen loaded

lassen let, allow ließ let gelassen let

laufen run lief ran ist gelaufen run

leiden suffer litt suffered gelitten suffered

leihen lend lieh lent geliehen lent

lesen read las read gelesen read

liegen* lie lag lay gelegen lain

*Do not confuse liegen (lie, recline, strong) and (sich) legen (lay, put, weak)!

lügen lie log lied gelogen lied

mahlen grind mahlte ground gemahlen ground

meiden avoid mied avoided gemieden avoided

messen measure maß measured gemessen measured

misslingen fail misslang failed misslungen failed

mögen like mochte liked gemocht* liked

*With an infinitive, the past participle is mögen: "Sie hat nicht gehen mögen."

müssen must musste had to gemusst* had to

*Used with an infinitive, as with all modals, the past participle is the infinitive
müssen: "Wir haben nicht gehen müssen."
 Infinitiv Präteritum Perfekt
(Preterite) (Past Participle)

nehmen take nahm took genommen taken

nennen name nannte named genannt named

pfeifen whistle pfiff whistled gepfiffen whistled

preisen praise pries praised gepriesen praised

quellen gush quoll* gushed ist gequollen* gushed

*Also has the weak forms quellte and hat gequellt.

raten advise riet advised geraten advised

reiben rub rieb rubbed gerieben rubbed

reißen tear riss tore gerissen torn

reiten* ride ritt rode ist geritten ridden

*The verb reiten is only used for riding an animal (e.g., horseback riding); to express
"ride" in a transportation sense (bus, train, etc.), fahren is used.

rennen run rannte ran ist gerannt run

*The verb rennen is a "mixed" verb, combining elements of strong and weak verbs.

riechen smell roch smelled Show Full Article gerochen smelled

ringen wring rang wrung gerungen wrung

How
rinnen
To flow rann flowed ist geronnen flowed
Figure
rufen
Out call rief called gerufen called
Word
SOrder
in
salzen
Germansalt salzte salted gesalzen/gesalzt salted

saufen drink soff drank gesoffen drunk

saugen
How suck sog* sucked gesogen* sucked
to
*Conjugate
Also has the weak forms saugte and hat gesaugt. In technical use, only the weak
German
form is used.
Modal
Verbs create;
schaffen schuf* created geschaffen* created
Duerfen,
Koennen,
Moegen

How
to
Conjugate
German
Modal
Verbs
Muessen,
Sollen,
and
Wollen

What
Are
Separable
Prefixes
in
German?

How
To
Figure
Out
Word
Order
in
German

How
to
Use
the
Future
Tense
in
German

The
Simple
Past
in
German

Können

How
to
Conjugate
the
German
Verb
"Stehen"
(to
Stand)

The
German
Verb
Wissen
(To
Know)
Conjugated

How
to
Conjugate
the
German
Verbs
Kennen,
"to
Know"

Examples
of
Regular
and
Irregular
German
Verbs

How
to
Conjugate
the
German
Verb
"Helfen"
(to
Help)

How
to
Conjugate
the
German
Verb
Anfangen

Learn
How
to
Conjugate
Common
German
Verbs
How
to
Conjugate
the
German
Verb
Wissen,
Meaning
"to
Know"

Learn Something New Every Day

Enter Your Email SIGN UP

Follow Us

Science, Tech, Math Humanities

Arts, Music, Recreation Resources

About Us Advertise

Privacy Policy Careers

Contact Terms of Use