Present Tense: Conjugation Practice and Patterns

You have met the four present-tense patterns one by one: regular (weak) verbs, stems ending in -t/-d, strong verbs that change e → i/ie, and strong verbs that change a → ä (and au → äu). This page puts them next to each other so you can do the one thing that actually matters in practice: take a brand-new verb and instantly know which pattern it follows. The goal is recognition speed, not memorising more rules.

The endings are the same for everyone

Whatever the subclass, the personal endings are constant. Build every present-tense form by attaching these to the stem (the infinitive minus -en):

Everything below is just an adjustment to this baseline, and every adjustment lives in the du row, the er/sie/es row, or both. See regular weak verbs for the foundation.

A two-question diagnostic for any new verb

When you meet a verb, ask two questions in order:

1. Does the stem end in -t, -d, or a cluster like -chn / -ffn / -gn? If yes, you need a linking -e- before the -st and -t endings (so du gets -est, er gets -et). This is purely about pronounceability.
2. Is it a strong verb whose stem vowel changes? A stressed e may rise to i or ie; an a may take an umlaut to ä (and au → äu). This change appears only in du and er/sie/es.

If the answer to both is "no," it's a plain weak verb and you're done. If "yes" to one, adjust just the two cells. The two adjustments never overlap, so you treat them independently.

Pattern 1 — Regular (weak): no change at all

The default. The stem is stable and you simply add the endings.

Pattern 2 — Stems in -t / -d: insert a linking -e-

If the stem ends in -t or -d (and a few clusters), squeezing -st or -t straight on would be unpronounceable, so German slips in an -e-. Crucially this only touches du (-est) and er/sie/es (-et); ihr also gets -et. See stems ending in -t, -d, -s.

There's a sibling rule on the same page: stems ending in -s, -ß, -z, -x already contain the s of -st, so the du ending collapses to just -t: heißen → du heißt, sitzen → du sitzt, tanzen → du tanzt. Notice du and er then look identical.

Pattern 3 — Strong verbs: e → i / ie (only du and er)

A large family of common verbs raises a stressed e in the du and er/sie/es forms — to i in short-vowel verbs, to ie in long-vowel ones. Everything else stays regular. Study e → i / ie verbs.

Watch the spelling collisions: essen ends in -ss, so the du form isst and the er form isst are identical (the -s rule from Pattern 2 meets the vowel change from Pattern 3). And lesen/sehen keep the long-vowel ie in both cells: du liest, er liest.

Pattern 4 — Strong verbs: a → ä, au → äu (only du and er)

The mirror image: verbs with a stressed a take an umlaut in the du and er/sie/es forms; the rarer au becomes äu. Get the umlaut spelling exactly right — fährst not fahrst. See a → ä verbs.

Why English speakers go wrong here

English long ago levelled almost all of this. Older English had thou givest / he giveth and a true vowel change in strong verbs (sing/sang), but the modern present is flat: only the third-person -s survives (he gives). So the two German reflexes that feel most alien are (1) applying a vowel change at all, and (2) restricting it to exactly du and er/sie/es. English learners typically err in one of two opposite directions — either they over-apply the change to ich and wir (*ich gibe), or they forget it in du/er (*du gebst). The diagnostic fixes both: change happens only in those two cells, and nowhere else.

Mixed practice set

Here are ten verbs across all four patterns. Cover the right-hand columns and produce the du and er/sie/es forms — those are the only two that ever surprise you. For deeper drilling of any single pattern, follow the cross-links above; for the full set of "stem, past, participle" forms, see principal parts.

Two entries reward a second look. nehmen is the wildcard: it changes both vowel and consonant — du nimmst, er nimmt — so it never quite fits the tidy e → i slot (see the key irregular verbs reference). And halten stacks two rules: the a → ä umlaut and a -t stem — but because the stem already ends in -t, the er form is just hält (no extra linking -e- after the umlauted stem), while du is hältst.

Common Mistakes