German Verbs

The Verbs „sein“ and „haben“ are two of the most important verbs in the German language. they can be used as a Main Verb („sein“ and „haben“, respectively), but we also use these verbs as Helping verbs to form certain Tenses.

Example: „Du bist nett.“ - „Er hat ein Haus.“

To the Lesson: „sein“ oder „haben“

When conjugating verbs, sometimes we change one of their words. Verbs with a vowel change are called "Strong Verbs".

Example: laufen - du läufst

To the Lesson: Starke Verben

The Present Participle is used when two actions are taking place at the same time, and we want to use one of them as an Adjective. It makes the sentence shorter and sound better. Das Partizip 1 wird auch Partizip Präsens genannt.

Example: „Der telefonierende Mann fährt Auto.“

To the Lesson: Partizip 1

The Past Participle is used to convert a longer clause into an Adjective and when constructing some Tenses (Perfect, Future 2 and Passive).

Example: „Du bist nach Hause gegangen.“

To the Lesson: Partizip 2

In German, lots of Verbs are created by taking an existing verb and adding a Prefix with a specific meaning to it.

When conjugating such verbs, sometimes the Prefix stays connected and sometimes it doesn't. Whether the verb is Separable or Inseparable depends on the Prefix.

Example: „Ich stehe jeden Morgen um 6 Uhr auf.“

To the Lesson: Trennbare & Untrennbare Verben

There are 6 modal verbs in German: „können“, „wollen“, „möchten“, „sollen“, „müssen“, „dürfen“. These are always combined with other verbs and express whether you can, must, want to, or should do something.

Examples: 

„Ich kann heute nicht in die Schule gehen.“

„Ich will heute nicht in die Schule gehen.“

„Ich soll heute nicht in die Schule gehen.“

To the Lesson: Modalverben

„Werden” has lots of different uses in German: as a main verb (meaning "to become"), to express passive voice, and to construct the future tense. More information about this extremely important verb can be found in this lesson.

Example: „Ich werde Urlaub machen.“

To the Lesson: Das Verb „werden“

On this page I will show you how to use the verb „lassen”. It is used as both a normal verb and as a helping verb.

Example: „Ich lasse mein Auto in der Garage stehen.“

To the Lesson: Das Verb „lassen“

Reflexive Verbs are verbs where the Subject and the Object are the same. Some verbs require them to be the same, while for others it is optional. The object is sometimes in the Accusative case, and sometimes Dative.

Example: „Ich wasche mich jeden Tag.“

To the Lesson: Reflexive Verben

The imperative is the command form. It's used when you want to order someone to do something. 

That means it is only used with „Sie”: but in German there is a different conjugation depending on how many people you are talking to and if it's formal or informal.

Example: „Geh jetzt ins Bett!“ 

To the Lesson: Der Imperativ

The subjunctive 1 is a specific conjugation of verbs that is used with indirect speech. It's mostly used in news reporting, both in newspapers / magazines and on TV. It's also used in hospitals and courtrooms.

Example:  „Mein Lehrer sagt, Deutsch sei nicht schwer.“

To the Lesson: Konjunktiv 1

The Subjunctive 2 is a tense that is used to express that something is hypothetical, imaginary, or unreal.

Example: „Ich wäre so gern ein Millionär.“

To the Lesson: Konjunktiv 2

The Pronoun „es” serves lots of different purposes in German. It can stand for a single word, a part of a sentence, or a whole sentence. It's also used in certain fixed expressions.

Example: „Wie geht es dir? – „Mir geht es gut.“

To the Lesson: Verben mit „es“