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Sample Sentence
er arbeitet du findest
Now let's look at another kind of German verb, a stem-changing verb. Technically, sprechen (to speak) is a strong verb4, not a regular verb. But in the present tense the verb sprechen is regular except for a stem change from e to i. That is, the verb changes its stem vowel, but the endings are the same as for any other regular verb in the present tense. Note that all stem changes only occur with the singular pronouns/persons du and the third person singular (er, sie, es). The first person singular (ich) and all the plural forms do NOT change. (Other stem-changing verb patterns include a to and e to ie. See the examples below.) Stem vowel changes are indicated below in red and a lighter background. Note that the verb endings remain normal. SPRECHEN / TO SPEAK Present Tense - Prsens Deutsch English SINGULAR ich spreche du sprichst er spricht sie spricht es spricht I speak you (fam.) speak he speaks she speaks it speaks Ich spreche am Telefon. Sprichst du am Telefon? Er spricht mit mir. (with me) Sie spricht Italienisch. Es spricht laut. (loudly) PLURAL wir sprechen ihr sprecht sie sprechen Sie sprechen we speak you (guys) speak they speak you speak Wir sprechen Deutsch. Sprecht ihr Englisch? Sie sprechen Italienisch. Sprechen Sie Spanisch? (Sie, formal "you," is both singular and plural.) Sample Sentence
QUIZ5 on the present tense. Other Stem-Changing Verbs fahren geben lesen drive, travel to give to read er fhrt, du fhrst es gibt, du gibst er liest, du liest
Note: These stem-changing verbs are strong (irregular) verbs, but they have regular verb endings in the present tense. See Strong Verbs6 for more about irregular German verbs. Quiz: Present Tense7 A self-scoring quiz on German verbs in the present tense. In future lessons we'll go over the past tense forms8 of regular9 and irregular verbs. If you want to look at irregular verbs in the simple past and present perfect, see our German Strong Verbs10 pages. German Strong (Irregular) Verbs11 The principal parts and conjugations of German irregular verbs, including haben and sein. Verb Review 112 Part One of a 3-part look at the ins and outs of German verbs. With self-scoring quiz. > Back to Lesson 4b13 (Lektion 4b) > Previous Lesson14 (Lektion 3) > Next Lesson15 (Lektion 5) > German for Beginners - Contents16
Related Pages
German Regular Verbs in the Past Tense17 The principal parts and conjugations of German regular verbs in the simple past and present perfect. German Strong (Irregular) Verbs18 The principal parts and conjugations of German irregular verbs, including "haben" and "sein."
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German Verbs - Contents19 Links to all of our verb resources and lessons on German verb conjugation. English-German Glossaries20 All of the annotated glossaries on this site - from aerospace to travel. German Grammar21 All of the grammar resources on this site.
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