Irregular
The irregular verbs whose forms have to be learned, sorted by how the vowel changes: kommen — kam — gekommen, nehmen — nahm — genommen. Verbs written alike stand together: bleiben, schreiben, treiben
- ei → ie → ie13 wordsaudiosongLike bleiben — blieb — geblieben: the root ei becomes a long ie in the past tense and in the participle
- ei → i → i15 wordsaudiosongLike greifen — griff — gegriffen: the root ei becomes a short i in the past tense and in the participle, and the consonant after it doubles
- ie → o → o26 wordsaudiosongLike fliegen — flog — geflogen: o in the past tense and in the participle. ziehen, schließen, bieten, verlieren change the same way, and so do heben and lügen
- i → a → u17 wordssongLike finden — fand — gefunden: three forms, three vowels. Almost all of these verbs end in -inden, -ingen or -inken
- e → a → o20 wordsaudioLike nehmen — nahm — genommen: a in the past tense, o in the participle. kommen, beginnen and schwimmen too; in the present tense e often turns into i
- e → a → e13 wordsaudiosongLike geben — gab — gegeben: a in the past tense, and the participle brings e back. sehen, lesen, essen, treten too, and also sitzen, liegen and bitten
- a → u → a7 wordsaudiosongLike fahren — fuhr — gefahren: u in the past tense, and the participle brings a back. tragen, schlagen, laden, wachsen and waschen too
- a → ie → a15 wordssongLike fallen — fiel — gefallen: ie or i in the past tense, and the participle brings back the vowel of the infinitive. lassen, halten, schlafen, laufen, rufen, gehen too
- Mixed14 wordsaudioLike bringen — brachte — gebracht: regular endings, but the vowel changes. denken, kennen, wissen, haben and the modal verbs too
- Special8 wordsaudioVerbs that fit no pattern: sein, werden, tun, stehen, and a few verbs with a regular past tense but a participle in -en