Posted by Understanding and properly conjugating German verbs begin with knowing their major categories and in this case, the subcategories of the main verb which are five in number…
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| 1. Characteristics of German main verbs 2. Categories of main verbs 3. Weak verbs 4. Verbs with -ieren 5. Strong verbs 6. Mixed verbs 7. Separable verbs 8. How to use german separable verbs 9. Inseparable verbs |
These are verbs that describe main actions and can be conjugated in all instances. In German, main verbs have different subcategories which is a reflection of how they are used in a sentence. All German main verbs have the below characteristics;
Characteristics of German main verbs
- They can either be transitive or intransitive verbs
- They are either reflexive or non-reflexive verbs
- They are either with or without prefixes
- They can be verbs used with prepositions
Categories of German main verbs
There are five categories of main verbs in German as listed below;
- Weak verbs/ regelmäßige Verben
- Strong verbs/ unregelmäßige Verben
- Mixed verbs/ gemischte Verben
- Separable verbs/ trennbare Verben
- Inseparable verbs/ untrennbare Verben
Weak Verbs in German
These are verbs that have regular conjugation patterns and no stem changes when being conjugated. They are mostly those English verbs that make their past tense by adding “-ed” (with some exemptions). Some examples of German weak verbs with their corresponding English meaning are shown below;
| German verbs | English translation |
|---|---|
| kochen sammeln klettern reisen spielen weinen putzen spülen baden beten regnen tanzen heiraten küssen zählen träumen suchen stören hören danken trennen kämpfen füttern | to cook to count/ gather to climb to travel to play to cry to clean/ brush to wash (dishes) to bathe to pray to rain to dance to marry to kiss to number/ count to dream to search/ seek to disturb to hear to thank to separate to wrestle/ fight to feed |
Verbs with –ieren
Apart from the examples of weak verbs listed above, there are other verbs that are classified under this category. These examples of verbs end with the suffix “-ieren”. These verbs are usually obtained from English, French or Latin. Athough these verbs are well understood by german speakers, there are often alternatiive verbs that mean exactly the same and are of german origin. Some examples are listed below;
| German | English | Alternative Verb |
|---|---|---|
| studieren | to study | lernen |
| informieren | to inform | mitteilen |
| trainieren | to train | einüben |
| gratulieren | to congratulate | beglückwünschen |
| lackieren | to paint | malen |
| markieren | to mark | kennzeichnen |
| rasieren | to shave | Haare schneiden |
| installieren | to install | aufstellen |
| telefonieren | to call | anrufen |
| engagieren | to engage | machen |
| kalkulieren | to calculate | rechnen |
| arrangieren | to arrange | ordnen |
| organisieren | to organize | einordnen |
| kombinieren | to combine | zusammenfügen |
| kopieren | to copy | vielfältigen |
| isolieren | to isolate | alleine lassen |
| fotografieren | to make photos | Foto machen |
| operieren | to operate | Chirurgie machen |
| diskutieren | to discuss | besprechen |
| animieren | to animate | beleben |
| reparieren | to repair | herrichten |
| dekorieren | to decorate | schmücken |
| identifizieren | to identify | feststellen |
| kapieren | to catch | fangen |
| kritisieren | to criticize | – |
| manipulieren | to manipulate | – |
| passieren | to pass | ereignen |
| (an/aus)probieren | to try on/out | prüfen |
| separieren | to separate | trennen |
| reagieren | to react | widersetzen |
| akzeptieren | to accept | annehmen |
Strong Verbs in German
These verbs are said to have irregular conjugation patterns and stem-vowel changes when conjugating them. This stem vowel change occur both in present and past tense (Präteritum) but only at the second (du) and third person (er/sie/es) conjugation. They are mostly those English verbs with simple past tense form that is different from their past participle tense. Some examples are shown below;
| German | English |
|---|---|
| schneiden backen fliegen schwimmen braten fliehen singen laufen fahren gehen geben sterben werden schließen stehen gießen beißen heißen finden leihen scheiden wiegen rufen schlagen nehmen sprechen lesen schreiben essen trinken brechen gebären fressen frieren | to cut to bake to fly to swim to fry to flee to sing to run to drive to go to give to die to become to close to stand to pour to bite to be called to find to lend to divorce/ divide to weigh to call to hit/ beat to take to speak to read to write to eat (humans) to drink to break to bear (pregnancy) to eat (animals) to freeze |
German Mixed Verbs
These are verbs that have dual character. Like their name implies, they tend to behave sometimes like weak verbs and other times like strong verbs. These variations are clearly seen when they are conjugated in their present and past tense. Study the sketch below.
This is an illustration with a glass of coca-cola (weak verb) and another glass of Orange juice (strong verb). Half of the coca-cola and half of the orange juice is poured into an empty glass and then mixed together. This mixture will neither taste like coca-cola nor orange juice even though it contains half of them both. It will even take a new color.
The mixed verbs in German are nine in total as shown below.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| senden bringen wissen wenden rennen brennen denken nennen kennen | To send To bring To know (fact) To turn To run To burn To think To (nick) name To know (sb./sth.) |
Separable Verbs (trennbare Verben)
They are verbs that have separable prefixes. They are those weak, strong and mixed verbs listed above except that in this case they are attached to certain prefixes called separable prefixes. Depending on the type of root verb, they can be divided into three subcategories namely;
- Separable weak verbs
- Separable strong verb
- Separable mixed verb
When the root verb that is attached to any of these prefixes is a weak verb, it is called a separable weak verb. When it is a strong verb, it is then termed a separable strong verb and likewise that with a mixed verb is called a separable mixed verb. The key strategy to learning and conjugating these verbs is to memorize their prefixes. Some separable prefixes are;
| vor-, an-, auf-, aus-, mit-, zu-, her-, hin-, weg-, nach-, los-, bei-, herunter-, ab-, zurück-, wieder-, ein-, fort-, nieder. |
Examples of these verbs are shown below;
| German | English |
|---|---|
| ausmachen vorschlagen wegfahren mitmachen anmachen aufmachen zumachen zurückkommen beibringen anfangen wiederholen nachsuchen abräumen aufräumen aufsammeln abholen anschalten ausschalten ausruhen zuhören niederlassen | to put off to suggest to drive off to participate to put on to open to close to come back to teach to start to repeat to check to clear up to tidy up to pick up (floor) to pick up (location) to switch on to switch off to rest to listen to to settle |
How to use german separable verbs
When conjugating these verbs, the prefixes must first be detached from the root verb which is conjugated according to its category. The detached prefix is then placed at the end of the sentence as shown below.
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. Max is driving the car away.—— Max fährt das Auto weg. 2. She is closing the door.—— sie macht die Tür zu. |
Inseparable Verbs (untrennbare Verben)
These verbs are also attached to prefixes but in this case called “inseparable”. Just like separable verb, inseparable prefixes are attached to weak, strong and mixed verbs and are termed inseparable weak verb, inseparable strong verb and inseparable mixed verb respectively.
Unlike separable prefixes, these prefixes cannot be detached from their root verbs. They are instead conjugated in their attached form. Just like separable prefixes, it is also important to memorize these inseparable prefixes so as to correctly conjugate them. The german inseparable prefixes are listed below;
| be-, zer-, ge-, miss-, unter-, über-, emp-, ent-, er-, voll-, ver-, wieder-. |
Below are some examples of separable verbs;
| German | English |
|---|---|
| zerschneiden gehören bezahlen empfehlen entdecken bekommen empfangen bedeuten beginnen missbrauchen versprechen erleben erzählen erholen erinnern erkennen | to pieces to belong to to pay to recommend to discover to get to receive to mean to begin to misuse/abuse to promise to experience to narrate/ tell/ recall to recover to remember to recognize |
It is important to note the following about separable and inseparable verbs;
- They should be conjugated based on the type of their root verb. That is, if it is a strong verb it should be conjugated like a strong verb and likewise weak and mixed verbs.
- They may be likened to “phrasal verbs” in English. That is, they can have slight meaning from their root verbs or a different meaning entirely.
| Usage |
|---|
| 1. The book belongs to John. Das Buch gehört John. 2. The party begins at 5 O’clock. Die Party beginnt um 5 Uhr. 3. I recognize the man. Ich erkenne den Mann. |
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