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VERB STEMS AND ENDINGS

In German, different subjects take different verb endings, similar to the alternation in English between I do and he does. The base form in the dictionary, or infinitive, is the starting point. The verb stem is the infinitive minus -en. Add these endings to the stem:

I	ich	-e
you (sing)	Sie	-en
he	er	-t
she	sie	-t
it	es	-t
"people"	man	-t
we	wir	-en
you (plural)	Sie	-en
they	sie	-en

Infinitive form: bleiben "to stay"

I am staying	ich bleibe
you are staying	Sie bleiben
he is staying	er bleibt
she is staying	sie bleibt
it is staying	es bleibt
people are staying	man bleibt
we are staying	wir bleiben
you are staying	Sie bleiben
they are staying	sie bleiben

If a verb has a stem ending in d- or t- , use the ending -et, not -t:

it costs	es kostet
he finds	er findet

The third person singular of the German verb haben is hat. The other present tense forms are regular.

VOWEL CHANGING VERBS

Some verbs alter their vowels when the subject is er, sie, es, or man. This is similar to the alternation between English I cry and he cries. Here are the vowel changing verbs we have had:

Infinitive	Vowel Change
fahren*	er, sie, es, man fährt
	he, she, it drives, "people" drive
laufen	er, sie, es, man läuft
	he, she, it walks, "people" walk
geben	er, sie, es, man gibt
	he, she, it gives, "people" give
nehmen	er, sie, es, man nimmt
	he, she, it takes, "people" take
sehen	er, sie, es, man sieht
	he, she, it sees, "people" see
sprechen	er, sie, es, man spricht
	he, she, it speaks, "people" speak
halten	er, sie, es, man hält
	he, she, it holds, "people" hold
essen	er, sie, es, man isst
	he, she, it eats, "people" eat

*With respect to vowel changing, compound verbs such as abfahren work like the simple verb from which they are derived, i.e. fahren: abfahren, er fährt…ab.

Vowel change verbs are indicated in the glossary as follows: essen (isst) : to eat.