Weak, Strong and Mixed Verbs in German

1. Weak [regular] verbs

These are the verbs with no stem-vowel changes in any tense. They take -te endings in Simple
Past and Subjunctive II, and -t or -et endings for their past participles. Zum Beispiel:
sagen, sagte, (habe) gesagt
einkaufen, kaufte ein, (habe) eingekauft
wandern, wanderte, (bin) gewandert

2. Strong [irregular] verbs

These are the verbs that have stem-vowel changes in one or more of the tenses [possibly
including the present tense]. In the Simple Past, they take the same endings as modal verbs in
the present tense (i.e. in particular no endings for 1st and 3rd person singular):
ich soll ich sah
du sollst du sahst
er soll er sah
wir sollen wir sahen
ihr sollt ihr saht
sie sollen sie sahen

their past participles end in -en. Zum Beispiel:

gehen, ging, (bin) gegangen
sehen, du siehst [stem-change in present tense], sah, (habe) gesehen

Irregular Verb Patterns in the Past Tenses of German

ei-ie-ie
Verbs that have ei in their stems in the present tense often switch to ie in the past tenses. For
example: 

Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

 bleiben blieb geblieben to stay, remain

entscheiden entschied entschieden to decide

leihen lieh geliehen to loan, lend

scheinen schien geschienen to shine

schreien schrie geschrien to scream

schreiben schrieb geschrieben to write

steigen  stieg gestiegen to climb

Be careful with this pattern, however, as there are plenty of regular verbs that have ei in the
middle of them and there are also a few irregular exceptions to the rules. For example: 

Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

heißen hieß geheißen to be called

reiten ritt geritten to ride

schneiden schnitt geschnitten to cut

Verb stems that have ie in their infinitive tend to have Os in their past tenses. For example: 

ie-o-o
Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

biegen bog gebogen to bend, kneel

bieten bot geboten to offer, provide

 fliegen flog geflogen to fly

schießen schoss geschossen to shoot

schließen schloss geschlossen to close, shut

verlieren verlor verloren to lose

ziehen zog  gezogen to pull

Of course, there are exceptions to that pattern, most notably: 

Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

liegen lag gelegen to lie, be located

If the verb stem has an I, you will see two distinct patterns. Some irregular verbs change to A in
the simple past and O in the Perfekt and other irregular verbs change to A in the simple past,
but U in the Perfekt tense. For example: 

i-a-o
Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

beginnen begann begonnen to begin

gewinnen gewann gewonnen to win

schwimmen schwamm geschwommen to swim

spinnen spann gesponnen to spin

 sprechen sprach gesprochen to speak

sterben starb gestorben to die

treffen traf getroffen to meet

werfen warf geworfen to throw

? Confused Student: WAIT! Those last 4 don’t have I in the infinitive! What is going on? How is
this the same pattern? 
Herr Antrim: Well, these verbs are all irregular in the present tense, too. They have a stem
change from E to I. sprechen – spricht, sterben – stirbt, treffen – trifft, werfen – wirft. So, while
they don’t have I in their infinitive, they do still follow the I-A-O rule. In fact, there are several
more like that. For example: 

i-a-o (part 2)

Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

brechen brach gebrochen to break

helfen half geholfen to help

nehmen nahm genommen to take

Verbs that change from I to A and then U include: 

i-a-u
Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

finden fand gefunden to find

 klingen klang geklungen to sound, ring

singen sang gesungen to sing

trinken trank getrunken to drink

There is another common pattern for verbs with I in their stem. This irregular verb category
changes from I to A in the simple past tense and E in the Perfekt. This often happens with verbs
that have a stem-change in the present tense. Unlike our last pattern, however, this one is not
limited to verbs that change from E to I, but also includes the E to IE change. This is also the
reason I put “liegen” in this list, as it changes from IE to A and then E. Here are a few verbs in
this category. 

i-a-e

Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

bitten bat gebeten to ask, request

essen aß gegessen to eat

geben gab gegeben to give

lesen las gelesen to read

sehen sah  gesehen to see

treten trat  getreten to step, kick

sitzen saß gesessen to sit

liegen lag gelegen to lie

vergessen vergaß vergessen to forget

Quick side note here: The verb sein sort of can be added to this category, as it does change
from an I in the present tense to an A in the Prӓteritum and an E in the Perfekt. Because the
stem changes a bit more in the Prӓteritum than other verbs, however, it is often left out of this
list. Its forms are: 

Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

sein war gewesen to be

Verbs that have an A in their stem follow several patterns. First up is the change from A to U in
the simple past and back to A in the Perfekt. Here are a few examples of that:

a-u-a

Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

fahren fuhr gefahren to drive

laden lud geladen to load 

schlagen  schlug geschlagen to hit, strike

tragen trug  getragen to carry

waschen wusch gewaschen to wash

This group actually belongs to a larger group of verbs, whose stems simply change in the
Prӓteritum, but go back to the same vowel in the Perfekt. While they aren’t always the same
vowels in each verb in this category, there is an overarching connection to be seen. 

x-y-x
Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

laufen lief gelaufen to run

 heißen hieß geheißen to be called

rufen rief gerufen to call, yell

fangen fing gefangen to catch

hӓngen hing gehangen to hang

Quick side note here: fangen and hӓngen are technically the same, as fangen has a stem change
in the present tense making it fӓngt with an umlaut. 
These patterns are great for helping you learn the past tenses of irregular German verbs, but
there are a few verbs that don’t really fit into any particular mold. For those, you will simply
have to remember them. Here are a few examples of those: 
Special Verbs

Infinitiv Präteritum Partizip 2 Englisch

gehen ging gegangen to go

kommen kam gekommen to come

stehen stand gestanden to stand

tun tat  getan to do

werden wurde geworden to become

Now that you know these patterns, you are well on your way to mastering the past tenses in
German.

2a. Mixed verbs [a.k.a. irregular weak verbs]

These are verbs with weak verb endings [-te endings in Simple Past and Subjunctive II, and -t
endings for their past participles], but which nevertheless are NOT regular, i.e. they do have
vowel changes. Some common mixed verbs are:
haben, du hast, hatte, (habe) gehabt
kennen, kannte, gekannt (and e.g. erkennen)
wissen, wusste, gewusst

Past participles without 'ge-' at the start

Some verbs don’t add ge- to the beginning to form a past participle.
The reasons for this could be one of the following:

 they end in –ieren, eg studieren > studiert (however, apart from not starting with ge-,
these verbs are regular)
 they start with an inseparable prefix such as be-, ent-, er- or ver-, eg verstehen >
verstanden
 the main verb already starts with ge-, eg gewinnen (to win) > gewonnen (won)