Verb forms are the backbone of every German sentence. Type the right form for each person, in the present tense or the Perfekt, and see the full table after every answer.
verbs · score 0 / 0
Regular verbs take the endings -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en on the stem: ich mache, du machst, er macht, wir machen, ihr macht, sie machen. If the stem ends in -t or -d, add an e to make it pronounceable: du arbeitest, er findet. If it ends in -s, -ß or -z, the du-form only adds -t: du reist, du heißt.
Many irregular verbs change their vowel in the du and er/sie/es forms only: a → ä (fahren: du fährst, er fährt), e → i (sprechen: du sprichst), e → ie (sehen: du siehst). The other forms stay regular. Separable verbs split in a main clause and the prefix goes to the end: Ich stehe um sieben Uhr auf. The trainer asks for the verb and the prefix together: stehe auf.
In spoken German the past is usually told with the Perfekt: a form of haben or sein in second position and the past participle at the end: Ich habe Pizza gegessen. Wir sind nach Köln gefahren.
| Verb type | Participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| regular | ge- … -t | machen → gemacht |
| irregular | ge- … -en, often a new vowel | trinken → getrunken |
| separable | prefix + ge + verb | einkaufen → eingekauft |
| be-, ver-, er- and -ieren | no ge- | besuchen → besucht, studieren → studiert |
Most verbs use haben. Verbs of movement from A to B (gehen, fahren, fliegen) and of change of state (aufstehen, werden), plus sein and bleiben, use sein. In southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland people also say ich bin gestanden and ich bin gelegen; the trainer uses the standard forms with haben.
Ten minutes a day is enough. Start with the present tense of all verbs, then switch to the Perfekt and the irregular verbs, which cause most mistakes. Say each answer out loud, and after every answer read the full table. The verbs come from the A1 and A2 lessons, so you meet them again in the dialogues. Modal verbs (können, müssen, wollen…) appear in the present only: in the past people normally use konnte, musste, wollte, which you learn in A2 lesson 26.
Verbs of movement from one place to another (gehen, fahren, fliegen, kommen), verbs of change of state (aufstehen, werden) and the verbs sein and bleiben. Most other verbs take haben.
Yes. The trainer accepts ae, oe, ue and ss and shows you the correct spelling with umlauts and ß.
Separable verbs split in the present tense: the prefix goes to the end of the sentence (Ich stehe um 7 Uhr auf). The trainer asks for both parts.
