A1.1 · 12 of 30

Regelmäßige Verben (Präsens)

Lesson · 4 rules · about 5 min

Learn six little endings once — -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en — and almost every German verb is yours.

  1. 1Stem + ending
  2. 2The extra e after -t and -d
  3. 3One tense, three English meanings
  4. 4-st is you, -t is he/she/it and you-all
Why this matters

German has one present tense that does the work of three English ones: ich wohne is 'I live', 'I am living' and 'I do live'. To form it, take the infinitive, cut the -en to get the stem (wohn-, mach-, komm-), and add the ending for the person: -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en. Those six endings never change — they are the same on every regular verb you will ever meet, and most irregular ones keep them too. One small comfort rule: if the stem ends in -t or -d (arbeit-, find-), an extra e slips in before -st and -t so the word can be pronounced: du arbeitest, er findet.

Question 1 of 10 · eins
eins1zwei2drei3vier4fünf5sechs6sieben7acht8neun9zehn10

du

Was du am Wochenende? (machen)

What are you doing at the weekend?