This article discusses key irregular present tense verbs in German and some patterns which may help you to learn them. This article deals with modal verbs, stem-changing verbs as well as haben and sein.
Irregular Present Tense German Verb Groups
In German there are three main distinct groups of irregular verbs in the present tense, namely:
1. Modal verbs* (namely dürfen = to be allowed to, müssen = to have to (must), können = to be able (can), sollen = to ought to (should).
mögen = to like and wollen = to want)
2. Stem-changing verbs (such as essen (to eat), fahren (to go) geben (to give), helfen (to help), lesen (to read), nehmen (to take), sehen
(to see), sprechen (to speak/talk) and vergessen (to forget))
3. The verbs sein (to be) and haben (to have)
*The modal verb werden (to become) is not dealt with here.
We will discuss each verb group one by one.
Modal Verbs
The first group of irregular verbs are known as modal verbs in German. Some key modal verbs are:
- dürfen = to be allowed to
- müssen = to have to (must)
- können = to be able (can)
- sollen = to ought to (should)
- mögen = to like
- wollen = to want
In the present tense these verbs are as follows:
- dürfen (to be allowed to): ich darf, du darfst, er/sie/es darf, wir dürfen, ihr dürft, sie/Sie dürfen
- können (to be able (can)): ich kann, du kannst, er/sie/es kann, wir können, ihr könnt, sie/Sie können
- mögen (to like): ich mag, du magst, er/sie/es mag, wir mögen, ihr mögt, sie/Sie mögen
- müssen (to have to (must)): ich muss, du musst*, er/sie/es muss, wir müssen, ihr müsst, sie/Sie müssen
- sollen (to ought to (should)): ich soll, du sollst, er/sie/es soll, wir sollen, ihr sollt, sie/Sie sollen
- wollen (to want): ich will, du willst, er/sie/es will, wir wollen, ihr wollt, sie/Sie wollen
One feature of these verbs is in the present tense they share a similar pattern. The pattern is as follows:
- The ich (I), er (he), sie (she) and es (it) forms in the present tense are identical.
- Other than sollen they have a spelling change in the stem of the verb (i.e. dürf changes to darf, könn changes to kann, mög changed to mag and woll changes to will).
- The forms are as follows:
- ich/er/sie/es…..darf/kann/mag/muss/soll/will
- The du (you (informal singular)) form is created by adding st to the verb form you use for ich (I), er (he), sie (she) and es (it) (see above):
- du darfst/kannst/magst/musst*/sollst/willst
- The wir (we), ihr (you (informal plural)) and sie/Sie (they/you (formal)) forms are completely regular.
*Du musst would look strange if it added st (i.e. mussst), therefore just adds t (musst).
Stem-changing verbs
The final main group of German irregular present tense verbs are stem-changing verbs. Take a look at the following examples:
- essen (to eat): ich esse, du isst, er/sie/es isst, wir essen, ihr esst, sie/Sie essen
- fahren (to go): ich fahre fährst, er/sie/es fährt, wir fahren, ihr fahrt, sie/Sie fahren
- geben (to give): ich gebe, du gibst, er/sie/es gibt, wir geben, ihr gebt, sie/Sie geben
- helfen (to help): ich helfe, du hilfst, er/sie/es hilft, wir helfen, ihr helft, sie/Sie helfen
- lesen (to read): ich lese, du liest, er/sie/es liest, wir lesen, ihr lest, sie/Sie lesen
- nehmen (to take): ich nehme, du nimmst, er/sie/es nimmt, wir nehmen, ihr nehmt, sie/Sie nehmen
- sehen (to see): ich sehe, du siehst, er/sie/es sieht, wir sehen, ihr seht, sie/Sie sehen
- sprechen (to speak/to talk): ich spreche, du sprichst, er/sie/es spricht, wir sprechen, ihr sprecht, sie/Sie sprechen
- vergessen (to forget): ich vergesse, du vergisst, er/sie/es vergisst, wir vergessen, ihr vergesst, sie/Sie vergessen
You will see that for these verbs:
- All the ich (I), wir (we), ihr (you) and sie/Sie (they/you) are regular; and
- The du (you) and er/sie/es (he/she/it) have regular endings, but they have changes in the stem (highlighted in bold and underlined).
Haben (To have) and Sein (To be)
Two miscellaneous verbs are haben (to have) and sein (to be).
Some people have difficulties with knowing what they are saying with the verbs sein (to be) and haben (to have) in English, so have written these out in full below for ease of reference:
- Sein = To be
- ich bin = I am
- du bist = You are (informal & singular ‘you’)
- er/sie/es ist = He/She/It is
- wir sind = We are
- ihr seid = You are (informal & plural ‘you’)
- sie/Sie sind = They are/You are (formal)
- Haben = To have
- ich habe = I have
- du hast = You have (informal & singular ‘you’)
- er/sie/es hat = He/She/It has
- wir haben = We have
- ihr habt = You have (informal & plural ‘you’)
- sie/Sie haben = They have/You have (formal ‘you’)
Sein (to be) unfortunately is totally irregular in the present tense and just needs to be learnt as it is.
By contrast, haben in the present tense is regular, except for du which is hast (and not habst) and er/sie/es which is hat (and not habt). Just remember there is no b for those verb forms.
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