In English, verbs barely change: "I play, you play, we play" — only "he plays" adds an -s. In German, the verb ending changes for EVERY person. But the pattern is completely regular for most verbs.
The Regular Conjugation Pattern
Take any regular German verb (like "spielen" = to play). Remove the -en ending to get the stem (spiel-), then add the personal endings:
| Person | Ending | spielen | machen |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | -e | spiele | mache |
| du | -st | spielst | machst |
| er/sie/es | -t | spielt | macht |
| wir | -en | spielen | machen |
| ihr | -t | spielt | macht |
| sie/Sie | -en | spielen | machen |
Notice: "wir" and "sie/Sie" forms are ALWAYS identical to the infinitive. That's 3 out of 6 forms you get for free!
The 3 Most Important Irregular Verbs
sein (to be)
Completely irregular: ich bin, du bist, er ist, wir sind, ihr seid, sie sind
haben (to have)
Slightly irregular: ich habe, du hast, er hat, wir haben, ihr habt, sie haben
werden (to become / will)
Stem change: ich werde, du wirst, er wird, wir werden, ihr werdet, sie werden
Stem-Changing Verbs (e→i, e→ie, a→ä)
About 50 common verbs change their stem vowel in the du and er/sie/es forms:
| Type | Verb | ich | du | er/sie/es |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| e→i | sprechen (speak) | spreche | sprichst | spricht |
| e→i | geben (give) | gebe | gibst | gibt |
| e→ie | sehen (see) | sehe | siehst | sieht |
| e→ie | lesen (read) | lese | liest | liest |
| a→ä | fahren (drive) | fahre | fährst | fährt |
| a→ä | schlafen (sleep) | schlafe | schläfst | schläft |
Practice with TheLernen's Conjugator
TheLernen includes a built-in verb conjugation trainer for German and Polish. Look up any verb to see all its forms, then switch to game mode to practice filling in conjugation tables. The spaced repetition system ensures you review verbs you struggle with more often.
Try the conjugation trainer now — practice sein, haben, werden, and 7 more essential verbs. Free, no account needed.
How do German verbs conjugate in the present tense?
Regular (weak) verbs add endings to the stem: ich -e, du -st, er/sie/es -t, wir -en, ihr -t, sie/Sie -en. From machen you get ich mache, du machst, er macht, wir machen, ihr macht, sie machen. Learn this one pattern and you can conjugate most verbs.
Which irregular verbs should I learn first?
sein (to be), haben (to have) and werden (to become) — they are the backbone of German and are used to build other tenses. After those, focus on the modal verbs (koennen, muessen, wollen) and strong verbs with a stem-vowel change (fahren, du faehrst).
Does the verb change in different tenses?
Yes, but German relies on auxiliaries. The perfect (spoken past) uses haben or sein plus the past participle (ich habe gemacht); the future uses werden plus the infinitive (ich werde machen). Master the present and the perfect first — together they cover most conversation.
Start with the present-tense endings and sein/haben/werden, then drill full sentences with spaced repetition — conjugation quickly becomes automatic.
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