Present Tense: Strong Verbs with e to i / ie | German Grammar

A group of very common German verbs shifts its stem vowel in the present tense: the e of the infinitive becomes i or ie. The crucial fact — and the one that makes this manageable — is that the change strikes only two cells of the paradigm: the du form and the er/sie/es form. Everywhere else the verb behaves exactly as you would expect. Master those two cells and you have mastered the entire pattern.

Where the change happens (and where it doesn't)

These verbs are strong verbs: they signal the present tense by changing the vowel inside the stem rather than just adding an ending. But the vowel change is not spread across the whole conjugation. Take geben (to give):

Person	Form	Vowel
ich	gebe	e (unchanged)
du	gibst	e → i
er / sie / es	gibt	e → i
wir	geben	e (unchanged)
ihr	gebt	e (unchanged)
sie / Sie	geben	e (unchanged)

Notice the shape of it: ich, wir, ihr, sie all keep the infinitive vowel e, while du and er/sie/es switch to i. The endings (-e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en) are completely normal. Only the vowel moves.

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The two changed cells — du and er/sie/es — are the exact same two cells affected by the a → ä change in verbs like fahren. German concentrates all its present-tense stem changes in the 2nd and 3rd person singular. If you train yourself to pause and check the vowel in just those two slots, you will catch every strong verb.

Gibst du mir bitte mal das Salz?

Could you pass me the salt? (informal)

Mein Bruder gibt nie ein gutes Trinkgeld.

My brother never gives a good tip.

e becomes i

Most verbs in this group take i. Here are the highest-frequency ones, with the ich form (unchanged) next to the du / er forms (changed) so you can see exactly where the vowel moves.

Infinitive	Meaning	ich	du	er / sie / es
geben	to give	gebe	gibst	gibt
nehmen	to take	nehme	nimmst	nimmt
sprechen	to speak	spreche	sprichst	spricht
essen	to eat	esse	isst	isst
helfen	to help	helfe	hilfst	hilft
treffen	to meet	treffe	triffst	trifft
treten	to step	trete	trittst	tritt
vergessen	to forget	vergesse	vergisst	vergisst
werfen	to throw	werfe	wirfst	wirft
sterben	to die	sterbe	stirbst	stirbt

Sprichst du eigentlich auch Spanisch?

Do you actually speak Spanish too? (informal)

Sie isst kein Fleisch, sie ist Vegetarierin.

She doesn't eat meat, she's a vegetarian.

Wenn du das machst, hilft dir keiner mehr.

If you do that, nobody will help you anymore.

Watch the consonants, too

A couple of these verbs change more than just the vowel, because the consonant cluster has to stay pronounceable:

nehmen → du nimmst, er nimmt: the h disappears and the m doubles. So it is nimmt, never nehmt (that spelling is the ihr form, ihr nehmt).
treten → du trittst, er tritt: the t doubles, giving tritt.
essen and vergessen end in -isst / -isst; because the stem already ends in -ss, the du and er forms look identical (du isst = er isst).

Ich nehme den Bus, aber sie nimmt das Fahrrad.

I'll take the bus, but she's taking the bike.

Du vergisst echt jedes Mal deinen Schlüssel.

You honestly forget your key every single time. (informal)

e becomes ie

A smaller set lengthens the vowel instead, spelling it ie. These tend to have a long e in the infinitive already (sehen, lesen), and the long vowel surfaces as ie in the two changed cells.

Infinitive	Meaning	ich	du	er / sie / es
sehen	to see	sehe	siehst	sieht
lesen	to read	lese	liest	liest
empfehlen	to recommend	empfehle	empfiehlst	empfiehlt
stehlen	to steal	stehle	stiehlst	stiehlt
geschehen	to happen	—	—	geschieht

Note that lesen ends in -s, so the du form drops the -s of the -st ending: du liest (not du liesst). And empfehlen mixes both patterns — it takes ie and keeps no extra consonant: du empfiehlst, er empfiehlt.

Siehst du den Mann da drüben mit dem roten Mantel?

Do you see the man over there in the red coat?

Was liest du gerade — den neuen Krimi?

What are you reading right now — the new crime novel?

Der Kellner empfiehlt heute den Fisch.

The waiter recommends the fish today. (formal, restaurant)

The connection to the imperative

There is a free bonus hidden in this pattern: the informal singular command (the du-imperative) of these verbs borrows the changed vowel and drops the ending. So from du gibst you get the command Gib! (Give!), and from du nimmst you get Nimm! (Take!), from du liest you get Lies! (Read!).

Gib mir mal kurz dein Handy.

Hand me your phone for a sec. (informal command)

Lies das bitte noch mal in Ruhe durch.

Please read this through again calmly. (informal command)

This is one reason it pays to lock in the du form: it powers the imperative as well.

How this differs from English

English verbs do change shape in the present — but only by adding -s in the third person ("she gives," "he reads"). The vowel itself never moves. An English speaker's instinct is therefore to keep the vowel constant and just tack on an ending: er gebt, du nehmt. That instinct is wrong for German strong verbs. English does have a faint echo of this kind of internal vowel change — compare "sing / sang / sung" or "give / gave" — but those are past-tense alternations. German uniquely puts the alternation in the present tense, and only in two of the six forms. There is no English habit to lean on here; you have to install a new reflex.

Common Mistakes

❌ Du gebst mir das Buch.

Incorrect — the du form must change e to i.

✅ Du gibst mir das Buch.

You give me the book.

❌ Er nehmt den Zug um acht.

Incorrect — er nehmt copies the ihr form; the h drops and m doubles.

✅ Er nimmt den Zug um acht.

He's taking the eight o'clock train.

❌ Ich gibe dir später Bescheid.

Incorrect — over-applying the change; ich keeps the infinitive vowel.

✅ Ich gebe dir später Bescheid.

I'll let you know later.

❌ Wir spreche kein Deutsch.

Incorrect — wir keeps e and needs the -en ending: sprechen.

✅ Wir sprechen kein Deutsch.

We don't speak German.

❌ Liesst du das Buch noch?

Incorrect — lesen ends in -s, so the du form is liest, not liesst.

✅ Liest du das Buch noch?

Are you still reading the book?

Key Takeaways

The vowel change e → i / ie affects only du and er/sie/es. The other four forms keep the infinitive vowel.
These are the same two cells touched by the a → ä change — so checking just those slots catches every strong verb.
Some verbs change consonants too: nehmen → nimmt (h gone, m doubled), treten → tritt (t doubled).
The changed du form also gives you the du-imperative: gib!, nimm!, lies!
There is no English shortcut — English never moves a present-tense vowel. Build the reflex by drilling the du and er forms together.

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