The changes in the simple past forms of strong verbs are not as unpredictable as they seem. They can be grouped into what are called “ablaut” patterns. (The German word Ablaut means simply “vowel change.”) The verbs in each ablaut pattern have similar vowel changes, although the consonant changes, if any, may differ. English, too, has verbs with ablaut: begin, began; speak, spoke. These similarities help English speakers quickly grasp the German verb forms. The verb greifen, whose simple past tense forms are given above, shows the vowel change ei — i from the infinitive to the simple past. Although there are about 40 different ablaut patterns in all, the following patterns account for more than half of all strong verbs. a>u ea ei>i ei — ie ie>o inva INFINITIVE fahren sehen beifen schreiben biegen _trinken SIMPLE PAST TENSE (3SG.) ful sah biss schrieb bog trank All ablaut patterns are represented in the conjugation tables of this book.