How To Learn German Irregular Verbs With Ease

Learning German irregular verbs might seem like a headache, but it's simpler than you think.

Despite their name, most German irregular verbs follow rules that make them easy to identify and remember.

Best of all, many of these German words change in ways similar to English irregular verbs.

For example:

English: I begin. I began. I have begun.

German: Ich beginne. Ich begann. Ich habe begonnen.

In this post, I'll teach you five ways to form German irregular verbs in the past tenses. With this critical knowledge, I'm confident that you'll acquire the strong German verbs almost effortlessly, no matter what the grammar villain might say.

By the way, if you want to learn German fast and have fun, my top recommendation is German Uncovered which teaches you through StoryLearning®. 

If you’re ready to get started, click here for a 7-day FREE trial.

What Are German Regular And Irregular Verbs?

German irregular, or strong verbs, tend to become visible in the simple past and present perfect tenses.

In German, the simple past, or Präteritum, is typically reserved for written language. The present perfect, or Particip II, is usually preferred in spoken language.

Irregular German verbs follow different conjugation patterns in the past tenses than regular verbs. In most cases, the vowel stems of irregular German verbs change in one or both past tenses.

Other German verbs are considered mixed and have characteristics of both regular (weak) and strong verbs. These words have a “t” or “te” ending like regular verbs but change their vowels like irregular ones.

How Many Irregular Verbs Does German Have?

In German, you'll come across approximately 200 irregular verbs. English, in comparison, has nearly 300, and other languages, like French, can have over 500!

Luckily, German irregular verbs usually follow one of five vowel stem changes, making them much easier to learn.

By taking note of the different ways that irregular German verbs can change, you'll quickly catch onto a pattern that helps you memorize them.

How To Identify German Irregular Verbs

Regular German verbs, also known as weak verbs, follow specific grammatical rules to create the word's past form.

The simple past forms of regular verbs are made by adding a “-t” or “-te” ending, while the present perfect adds a form of haben or sein and “ge-” to the front of the word.

Regular Verb: Ich lerne (I learn). Ich lernte (I learned). Ich habe gelernt (I learned).

Irregular Verb: Ich nehme (I take). Ich nahm (I took). Ich habe genommen (I took).

Irregular German verbs typically change their vowel stems and don't follow the same rules as weak verbs. Some strong verbs change their consonants as well, but this rarely occurs.

Understanding Vowel Stem Changes

Irregular German verbs aren't as odd as you might expect them to be. Most German irregular verbs tend to change in one of the following ways:

Vowel changes to “a,” “o,” or “u.”

• “a” changes to “ei” or “ie”
• “e” or “i” changes to “a”
• “ei” changes to “i”
• “ie” changes to “o”

Although most irregular verbs change their vowel stems, only a handful of other German verbs change their consonants.

Vowel Changes To “A” In Simple Past And “O” In The Present Perfect

Some German verbs with the vowels “i” or “e” change these letters to “a” in simple past and “o” in present perfect.

Let's look at a few examples.

Example 1

The film began at 8pm.

• (Simple Past) Der Film begann um 20 Uhr.
• (Present Perfect) Der Film hat um 20 Uhr begonnen.

Example 2

I recommended the restaurant.

• (Simple Past) Ich empfahl das Restaurant.
• (Present Perfect) Ich habe das Restaurant empfohlen.

Example 3

We helped him.

• (Simple Past) Wir halfen ihm.
• (Present Perfect) Wir haben ihm geholfen.

Example 4

You took the book.

• (Simple Past) Du nahmst das Buch.
• (Present Perfect) Du hast das Buch genommen.

“A” Or “EI” Changes To “IE”

Another standard, irregular verb change you'll encounter in German is “a” or “ei” becoming “ie.”

German verbs with an “ei” vowel stem changing to “ie” change in both the simple past and present perfect forms. But, words with “a” vowels changing to “ie” only do so in the simple past. In the present perfect, these verbs keep their original forms.

Example 1

He stayed home.

• (Simple Past) Er blieb zuhause.
• (Present Perfect) Er ist zuhause geblieben.

Example 2

I fell down the stairs.

• (Simple Past) Ich fiel die Treppen runter.
• (Present perfect) Ich bin die Treppen runtergefallen.

Example 3

It seemed like a good idea.

• (Simple Past) Es schien eine gute Idee zu sein.
• (Present Perfect) Es ist wie eine gute Idee geschienen.

Example 4

The baby slept deeply.

• (Simple Past) Das Baby schlief tief.
• (Present Perfect) Das Baby ist tief geschlafen

Vowel Changes To “A” In Simple Past And “U” In Present Perfect

A few German words with “i” as the vowel stem change to “a” in simple past and “u” in present perfect.

Example 1

I found the gift.

• (Simple Past) Ich fand das Geschenk
• (Present Perfect) Ich habe das Geschenk gefunden.

Example 2

Our work was successful.

• (Simple Past) Unsere Arbeit gelang.
• (Present Perfect) Unsere Arbeit ist gelungen.

“E” Or “I” Changes To “A”

One of the most commonly occurring changes in German irregular verbs is for the “e” or “i” to become an “a.”

Sometimes, these changes are present in both the simple past and present perfect. In other instances, the vowel stem only changes in the simple past.

In the case of stehen, a consonant change happens in addition to the vowel changing.

Example 1

We ate sushi.

• (Simple Past) Wir aßen Sushi.
• (Present Perfect) Wir haben Sushi gegessen.

Example 2

I went to school.

• (Simple Past) Ich ging zur Schule.
• (Present Perfect) Ich bin zur Schule gegangen.

Example 3

She hardly knew me.

• (Simple Past) Sie kannte mich kaum.
• (Present Perfect) Sie hat mich kaum gekannt.

Example 4

He came to the concert.

• (Simple Past) Er kam zum Konzert.
• (Present Perfect) Er ist zum Konzert gekommen.

Example 5

I forgot the meat.

• (Simple Past) Ich vergaß das Fleisch.
• (Present Perfect) Ich habe das Fleisch vergessen.

“EI” Changes To “I”

A small group of German verbs changes its “ei” vowel stems to “i” in the past tenses.

The word gleiten is a particular case because the “t” is doubled.

Example 1

The snake bit me.

• (Simple Past) Die Schlange biss mich.
• (Present Perfect) Die Schlange hat mich gebissen.

Example 2

We glid down the mountain.

• (Simple Past) Wir glitten den Berg hinunter.
• (Present Perfect) Wir sind den Berg hinunter geglitten.

“IE” Changes To “O”

Some German irregular verbs with “ie” vowel stems change to “o.”

In the case of biegen, a consonant change also takes place, and the “g” becomes a “t” in the simple past form. 

Example 1

She turned right.

• (Simple Past) Sie bot rechts ab.
• (Present Perfect) Sie ist rechts abgebogen.

Example 2

I flew home for Christmas.

• (Simple Past) Ich flog nach Hause für Weihnachten.
• (Present Perfect) Ich bin nach Hause geflogen für Weihnachten.

Example 3

He enjoyed the party.

• (Simple Past) Er genoss die Party.
• (Present Perfect) Er hat die Party genossen.

Example 4

The store closed.

• (Simple Past) Der Laden schloss.
• (Present Perfect) Der Laden ist geschlossen.

The Case Of Haben And Sein

The verbs haben (to have) and sein (to be) follow unique past tense structures.

When forming the present perfect of haben, use an appropriately conjugated form of the verb + gehabt. The simple past form is created using hatte and an ending suitable to your pronoun.

Example 1

Last week you had money.

• (Simple Past) Letzte Woche hattest du Geld.
• (Present Perfect) Letzte Woche hast du Geld gehabt.

Example 2

I had money yesterday.

• (Simple Past) Gestern hatte ich Geld.
• (Present Perfect) Gestern habe ich Geld gehabt.

The verb sein (to be) is irregular in both German and English.

Example 3

I was tired.

• (Simple Past) Ich war müde.
• (Present Perfect) Ich bin müde gewesen.

Example 4

We were impatient.

• (Simple Past) Wir waren ungeduldig.
• (Present Perfect) Wir sind ungeduldig gewesen.

Final Thoughts On German Irregular Verbs

Breaking down the irregular German verbs by type can make them much easier to learn and remember.

The most frequently-used and most unique irregular verbs in German are haben (to have) and sein (to be), making them an excellent starting point.

Most other strong German verbs fit into one of five categories of vowel stem changes. Once you learn which types of vowel changes are possible, you can recognize and conjugate these words with regular repetition and exposure.

And how do you get that repetition and exposure? Well, that's a key part of StoryLearning® method – reading stories helps you pick up the language naturally without memorising rules!

So make sure you've got some German books or even a set of German short stories and start spotting those irregular verbs. You'll soon start using them yourself with ease without even noticing!

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.