Posted by Conjugation simply means relating a verb to a subject. What this means is that, a verb can only be conjugated to the subject of a sentence. German conjugation is quite different from that of English and also a little bit more tricky.
| Content in this post |
|---|
| 1. Definition of conjugation 2. The parts of a German verb 3. How to conjugate all German verbs 4. How to make correct sentences of the conjugated verbs |
The Parts of A German Verb
German verbs can be divided into three parts for the purpose of conjugation namely;
- The verb-end
- The stem
- The stem- end
The verb-end which can either be “en“ or “n” can also indirectly determine the conjugating suffix of some verbs. It is the part of the verb that must first be detached before conjugation is done.
The stem contains the vowel that is liable to changes in certain verbs. It is the remainder of the verb after the verb ending has been detached. The verb category determines whether the verb would have a stem change or not. Weak verbs usually don’t have stem changes but strong verbs on the other hand usually make stem vowel changes where necessary.
The stem-end on the other hand is the last letter of the stem. This is where the conjugating suffix gets attached. For certain verbs, there could be rules as to what stem-end gets attached to what suffix.
How To Conjugate Regular/Weak Verbs
For the conjugation of weak verbs, the stem-ending and sometimes the verb-ending are the most important and so have been categorized as shown in the table below.
| Subject | t, and d1 | s, z and ß2 | any other letter3 | verbs ending with n4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ich | e | e | e | e |
| du | est | st | st | st |
| er/sie/es | et | t | t | t |
| wir | en | en | en | n |
| ihr | et | t | t | t |
| sie/Sie | en | en | en | n |
To conjugate the weak verb kochen for example, the verb-ending -en must first be detached from the whole leaving behind the stem koch-. Looking at the stem, the last letter is -h. Hence belongs to the “any other” category of stems on the table above.
It is important to note that this conjugation table was formulated using subject pronouns. So, in the case of a subject noun, one must think of the corresponding subject pronoun to that noun.
Note that when conjugating verbs that end with “n” and with stem-ending “l” such as “sammeln” to the first person pronoun “ich”, the “e” which precedes the “l” must first be omitted before the conjugation suffix is attached. This is not so for others with a different stem-end such as “klettern”.
How To Conjugate Irregular/Strong Verbs
Recall that this category of German verbs has an irregular conjugation pattern and stem vowel changes. They can be conjugated with the column below.
| Subjects | Conjugation suffix |
|---|---|
| ich du er/sie/es wir ihr sie/Sie | -e -(e)st -(e)t -en -(e)t -en |
In addition to the conjugation suffix above, recall that some german strong verbs have a change of stem-vowel when conjugating them in their present tense. Some stem changes that occur in strong verbs include;
It is important to note the following;
- Some strong verbs that end with d or t may add an e at du, er/sie/es and ihr subjects during conjugation.
- These stem changes only take place at the second (du) and third person (er/sie/es) subject.
- The stem vowel changes only take place in the first syllable.
- “e” changes to “i” when the stress is on the first syllable and “ie” when the stress is on the second syllable.
- “e” doesn’t change when the next letter immediately after it is “h” and the stress is on the first syllable with an exemption of “nehmen” where “eh” changes to “im”. See the illustrations below.
| Usage |
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| 1. Jane is driving a car.–– Jane fährt ein Auto. 2. How do you find my hair?–– wie findest du mein Haar? 3. Is he reading a book?–– liest er ein Buch? |
How to conjugate gemischte Verben (german mixed verbs)
This verb category can be conjugated with the weak verb table above under the column of “stem-ending with -n” except “wissen” which is conjugated differently and must be mastered.
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. Why are you running?–– warum rennst du? 2. We are naming our son “Mario”.–– wir nennen unseren Sohn “Mario”. |
How conjugate trennbare Verben (separable verbs)
To conjugate these verbs, the prefix must first be detached or cut out from the root Verband then the root verb, depending on its type (whether weak,strong or mixed) should then be conjugated accordingly. Thereafter, the prefix must be placed at the end of the sentence. See illustration below.
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. The passengers are getting on the bus.–– die Fahrgäste steigen den Bus an. 2. How do you get to know the people?–– wie lernst du die Leute kennen? |
Untrennbare Verben (inseparable verbs)
Because the prefixes of these verbs can not be detached from them, they are conjugated with the prefixes attached. Just like separable verbs, the root verbs are conjugated based on their verb type. That is, inseparable weak verbs like weak verbs, inseparable strong verbs like strong verbs and inseparable mixed verbs like mixed verbs).
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. I visit my parents on weekends.–– ich besuche am Wochenende meine Eltern. 2. Does she recognise the man?–– erkennt sie den Mann? |
How to modal Verben (German modal verbs)
This category of verbs are not conjugated like the main verbs. They have no guidance as to their conjugation. Hence, they must be mastered just as they are. The good thing is that they are quite few in number 😜.
| Subjects | sollen | wollen | dürfen | müssen | können | mögen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ich du er/sie/es wir ihr sie/Sie | soll sollst soll sollen sollt sollen | will willst will wollen wollt wollen | darf darfst darf dürfen dürft dürfen | muss musst muss müssen müsst müssen | kann kannst kann können könnt können | mag magst mag mögen mögt mögen |
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. Are you allowed to drive a car?–– darfst du ein Auto fahren? 2. She has to take her medication.–– sie muss ihr Medikament nehmen. |
Hilfsverben (German auxiliary verbs)
They have no regulating table. Hence they must be mastered as well.
| Subjects | sein | haben | tun | werden |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ich du er/sie/es wir ihr sie/Sie | bin bist ist sind seid sind | habe hast hat haben habt haben | tue tust tut tun tut tun | werde wirst wird werden werdet werden |
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. I am a girl and you are a boy.–– ich bin ein Mädchen und du bist ein Junge. 2. Will Sara still buy the toy for the child?–– wird Sara noch dem Kind das Spielzeug kaufen? |
- Column 1 is the suffix that should be attached to all weak verbs with stem-end “t” or “d” to their respective subjects.
↩︎ - Column 2 is the suffix for stem-ending “s,z and ß”
↩︎ - Column 3 is for all other stem-ending such as h, k, m etc
↩︎ - Column 4 is for all weak verbs that end with “n”. In this case, the stem-end is not required. ↩︎