Many verbs in German have separable prefixes, which must be split off from the verb in certain verb forms. But though separable verbs do have some additional rules to follow, they can belong to any verb class: strong, weak, or mixed!
German verbs come in one of three distinct categories:
weak verbs also known as “regular verbs” or schwache Verben
strong verbs also known as “irregular verbs” or starke Verben
mixed verbs also known as “irregular weak verbs” or Mischverben
The vast majority of German verbs are weak verbs which are fully regular, meaning they take the expected endings and forms in every tense and form. However, some of the most common German verbs are strong or mixed, and verbs in both categories will have at least some irregular or unpredictable forms. Compare:
Weak Verb | Strong Verb | Mixed Verb | |
|---|---|---|---|
Infinitive | lachen to laugh | werfen to throw | denken to think |
Simple Past | lachen | sie warf | sie sachte |
Past Participle | gelacht | geworfen | gedacht |
The good news is: mixing up the three types of verbs usually won’t result in other speakers not being able to understand what you’re saying. However, getting them right will sometimes help to avoid confusion or ambiguity and really helps your verb game to shine!
What’s the difference between weak, strong and mixed verbs?
The distinction between these three types of verbs boils down to differences in their conjugation patterns. Conjugation is the process of changing the form of a verb to indicate information such as , , or . Whether a verb is strong, weak, or mixed depends on two factors:
Does the stem stay the same in all the verb forms?
Are the endings always regular?
See how verbs in each category answer the two questions above!
Weak | Strong | Mixed | |
|---|---|---|---|
Stem stays the same? | Yes | No | No |
Endings regular? | Yes | No | Yes |
Can you see why we label these types of verbs “regular” and “irregular” the way we do?
Weak verbs are called “regular” verbs because their forms are always predictable.
Strong verbs are called “irregular” because both their stem and their endings are unpredictable.
You’ll sometimes hear mixed verbs called “irregular regular verbs” because, while their stem may sometimes change, they still take the same endings as the weak, or “regular” verbs.
Important
Tip
Did you know? The terms “weak” and “strong” were coined by Jakob Grimm, the same Jakob Grimm famous for collecting folktales as part of the Brothers Grimm! Jakob was not only a folklorist but also a linguist!
Let’s look now at how to tell whether a given verb is strong, weak, or irregular.
How to tell if a verb is strong, weak, or mixed?
You can usually tell whether a German verb is strong, weak, or mixed by looking at its dictionary entry. Specifically, you’ll need to look at the verb’s principal parts.
A German verb’s principal parts are its most essential forms. Each German verb has three:
the infinitive (Infinitiv or dictionary form)
the simple past (Präteritum)
the past participle (Partizip II)
The principal parts of a verb will usually give you all the information you need to conjugate it correctly, including whether it is a weak, strong, or mixed verb! Know the principal parts of a verb and you’re likely to already know how to conjugate it in any tense.
You’ll generally see a verb’s principal parts listed in the order given above. Can you guess which of the verbs below is weak, which is strong, and which is mixed? Remember: look for stem changes and exceptional endings!
lachen
to laugh
→ lachen — lachte — gelachtwissen
to know
→ wissen — wusste — gewussttragen
to carry
→ tragen — trug — getragen
Answer:
lachen is weak → the stem stays the same and the endings are regular
wissen is mixed → the stem changes, but the endings are still regular
tragen is strong → the stem changes and the endings are irregular
In weak verbs, the principal parts are not necessary since every form can be derived directly from its infinitive, but the principal parts are usually enough to make sure you can identify strong and mixed verbs and conjugate them correctly!
Exception!
Some verbs, like the strong verb lesen(to read), change their stem in their present tense conjugation: ich lese, du liest, sie liest(I read, you read, she reads). This is not apparent from their principal parts.
How do you conjugate weak vs. strong vs. mixed verbs?
As we saw above, the basic difference between the conjugations of weak, strong, and mixed verbs are captured by the statements below:
weak verbs are regular
strong verbs have stem changes and irregular endings
mixed verbs have stem changes, but use regular endings
In this section, we’ll look at each category a little more closely.
Important
A few verbs have two acceptable conjugations, in different categories, like backen(to bake):
- Weak VerbStrong VerbMixed VerbInfinitive
lachen
to laugh
werfen
to throw
denken
to think
Simple Pastlachen
sie warf
sie sachte
Past Participlegelacht
geworfen
gedacht
- Weak VerbStrong VerbMixed VerbInfinitive
lachen
to laugh
werfen
to throw
denken
to think
Simple Pastlachen
sie warf
sie sachte
Past Participlegelacht
geworfen
gedacht
Usually, one form will be more common than the other in everyday speech.
How to conjugate weak verbs?
The majority of German verbs are weak verbs, meaning that their forms can be predicted by looking only at the form. Weak verbs play by the rules — there are no tricks or surprises.
You can see this regularity by comparing the three principal parts of the weak verb fragen(to ask):
Principal Parts | Weak Endings | |
|---|---|---|
Infinitive | fragen | -en |
Simple Past (3rd sg.) | fragte | -te |
Past Participle | gefragt | ge- + -t |
Here’s what you should notice:
The stem is the same in each form: frag-
The endings match the regular endings!
This tells you that fragen is a weak or “regular” verb.
How to conjugate strong verbs?
Unlike weak verbs, the conjugation of strong verbs is usually often not predictable, because the stem will change across the tenses. To conjugate a strong verb, you’ll need to use each of the principle parts.
You can see this regularity by comparing the three principal parts of the weak verb fragen(to ask):
Principal Parts | Weak Endings | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Infinitive | trinken | werfen | -en |
Simple Past (3rd sg.) | trank | warf | -te |
Past Participle | getrunken | geworfen | -en + -t |
Here’s what you should notice:
The stem vowel (underlined) is changing in each form
The endings don’t match the ones for weak verbs:
In the simple past, there is no ending (-te)
The past participle uses the suffix -en instead of -t.
Tip
Most verbs that are irregular in English and have a counterpart in German that looks very familiar are also irregular in German! An example is the verb singen(to sing):
Infinitive | singen sing |
|---|---|
Simple Past (3rd sg.) | sang sang |
Past Participle | gesungen sung |
Are there patterns in strong verbs?
Though German strong verbs are irregular, there are some common patterns you can use to help you memorize them. We can distinguish three broad categories:
Type I → the past participle matches infinitive
Infinitivefahren
drive
Simple Past (3rd sg.)fuhr
drove
Past Participlegefaren
driven
Type II → the past participle matches simple past
Infinitivegreifen
grip
Simple Past (3rd sg.)griff
gripped
Past Participlegegrifen
gripped
Type III → different vowels in each of the principal parts
Infinitivesprechen
speak
Simple Past (3rd sg.)sprach
spoke
Past Participlegesprochen
spoken
One special pattern in type III verbs is known as "Ablaut". Verbs like trinken(to drink) and singen(to sing) follow the vowel pattern i–a–u, one which is found in many languages like French, Spanish, Swedish, and even English — “drink, drank, drunk” and “sing, sang, sung”!
Which strong verbs have stem changes in the present tense?
Most strong verbs with an e, a, or au as their main stem vowel in the infinitive will also show a stem vowel change in the present tense! This affects the 2nd and 3rd person singular forms only:
Vowel Change | Infinitive | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
e → ie | lesen | ich lese | du liest | sie liest |
e → i | geben | ich gebe | du gibst | sie gibt |
a → ä | tragen | ich trage | du trägst | sie trägt |
au → äu | laufen | ich laufe | du läufst | sie läuft |
Exception!
Though most strong verbs with an e, a, or au will follow this pattern, some keep their stem vowel throughout the present tense:
heben(to lift) → ich hebe, du hebst, sie hebt
gehen(to go) → ich gehe, du gehst, sie geht
schaffen(to lift) → ich schaffe, du schaffst, sie schafft
In this case, it’s just a matter of memorization!
How to conjugate mixed verbs?
Mixed verbs combine features of weak and strong verbs: while they have stem changes (like strong verbs) they use the regular endings (like weak verbs).
We can illustrate this with the verbs rennen(to run) and wissen(to know). Notice that even though the vowels change, the endings match the right-hand column:
Principal Parts | Weak Endings | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Infinitive | rennen | wissen | -en |
Simple Past (3rd sg.) | rannte | wusste | -te |
Past Participle | gerannt | gewusst | ge- + -t |
How to conjugate modal verbs, ‘sein,’ and other outliers
A few very frequent verbs such as sein(to be), haben(to have), werden(to become), and the modal verbs are so irregular that it’s not really helpful to call them “strong” or “weak.” This can be because they take totally unexpected endings, or have more significant changes to their stems when being conjugated.
For example, look at the present tense conjugations of these verbs. Do you notice all the irregularities and stem changes?
Verb | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
sein | ich bin | wir sind |
du bist | ihr seid | |
sie ist | sie sind | |
mögen | ich mag | wir mögen |
du magst | ihr mögt | |
sie mag | sie mögen |
The best way to learn these verbs is through memorization. You can find the conjugations of the modal verbs in our post on German modal verbs, and you can learn the conjugations of haben and sein from our post on haben vs. sein!
Summary
With some practice, you will be able to memorize the many forms of the strong and mixed verbs. Remember these major points:
Weak verbs are regular verbs in German.
Their stem vowel doesn’t change
the past tense is formed, [stem]-te
the past participle is formed, ge-[stem]-t
Strong verbs are irregular verbs in German.
Their stem vowel changes between the different principal parts
The past tense has no ending
the past participle is formed, ge-[stem]-en
Mixed Verbs are irregular weak verbs.
Their stem vowel changes (irregular)
the past tense is formed, [stem]-te (regular)
the past participle is formed, ge-[stem]-t (regular)
Some verbs may have two acceptable conjugations, depending on which category you put the verb in. Usually, though, one conjugation will be more common in day-to-day speech.
Modal verbs and some of the most frequently used verbs have more irregular conjugations. Though we can technically categorize them as “strong” or “weak” it’s more helpful to just memorize their conjugations.
Want to study? Check out this list of the most common weak, strong, and mixed verbs, then try out our weak vs. strong verb activities to help take your German skills to the next level!
By understanding the differences between weak, strong, and mixed verbs, you are well on your way to mastering the German language and speaking like a native!
