Mixed verbs in the past tense
We have seen that regular verbs form the simple past (Präteritum) by adding -te to the stem, while irregular verbs change their core vowel and take no ending.
A third group of verbs combines both patterns. We call these mixed verbs. In the simple past, they change their stem vowel (like irregular verbs) and take the -te ending (like regular verbs).
Because they take the regular ending, their conjugations look exactly like those of regular verbs in the past tense:
| Pronoun | Ending | Example (wissen -> wusste) |
|---|---|---|
| ich / er / sie / es | -te | wusste |
| wir / sie / Sie | -ten | wussten |
| du | -test | wusstest |
| ihr | -tet | wusstet |
Let's look at how these mixed verbs are used to describe a classic mystery.
Knowing in the past
To solve a case, detectives need to know things. Remember that German has two verbs for "to know": wissen (for facts) and kennen (for people or being familiar with something). Both are mixed verbs!
- wissen becomes wusste
- kennen becomes kannte
| The detective didn't know the answer. | Der Detektiv wusste die Antwort nicht. |
| The detective knew the name, but he didn't know the murderer. | Der Detektiv wusste den Namen, aber er kannte den Mörder nicht. |
Thinking and bringing
Some mixed verbs change quite a bit in the past tense. For example, denken (to think) and bringen (to bring) both change their stem entirely so that they end in -ach-.
- denken becomes dachte
- bringen becomes brachte
| The murderer thought about the blood on the wall. | Der Mörder dachte an das Blut an der Wand. |
| The witness brought the weapon to the police. | Der Zeuge brachte die Waffe zur Polizei. |
Naming, running, and burning
A very common pattern for mixed verbs is changing an e in the present tense to an a in the past tense. Notice how similar the following action verbs are when conjugated in the simple past:
- nennen (to name) becomes nannte
- rennen (to run) becomes rannte
- brennen (to burn) becomes brannte
| We investigated the clues that the inspector named. | Wir untersuchten die Spuren, die der Inspektor nannte. |
| The villa was burning when the inspector thought about the witness. | Die Villa brannte, als der Inspektor an den Zeugen dachte. |
| The perpetrator immediately ran into the shadow. | Der Täter rannte sofort in den Schatten. |
