German Strong Verbs (N-Schw)

Irregular German Verbs

How to Conjugate German Irregular (Strong) Verbs

In the following charts we have listed the principal parts of German verbs that have irregular forms that must be memorized. (Weak (regular) verbs follow a predictable pattern, and do not vary the way that strong verbs do.)

Only some compound verbs are listed (i.e., anfangen). To conjugate other compound verbs based on other verbs, e.g., abgeben, based on geben, simply use the stem verb (in this case "geben") with the prefix (in this case "ab") to get the past (gab ab) or past participle (abgegeben).

NOTE: Participles that require sein as a helping verb are indicated by ist in front of the past participle. The English meaning shown for each verb may be only one of several possible meanings.

Starke Verben - Strong Verbs - N-Schw
INFINITIV	PRÄTERITUM (Preterite)	PERFEKT (Past Participle)
N
nehmen take	nahm took	genommen taken
nennen name	nannte named	genannt named
P
pfeifen whistle	pfiff whistled	gepfiffen whistled
preisen praise	pries praised	gepriesen praised
Q
quellen gush	quoll* gushed	ist gequollen* gushed
*Also has the weak forms quellte and hat gequellt.
R
raten advise	riet advised	geraten advised
reiben rub	rieb rubbed	gerieben rubbed
reißen tear	riss tore	gerissen torn
reiten* ride	ritt rode	ist geritten ridden
*The verb reiten is only used for riding an animal (e.g., horseback riding); to express "ride" in a transportation sense (bus, train, etc.), fahren is used.
rennen run	rannte ran	ist gerannt run
*The verb rennen is a "mixed" verb, combining elements of strong and weak verbs.
riechen smell	roch smelled	gerochen smelled
ringen wring	rang wrung	gerungen wrung
rinnen flow	rann flowed	ist geronnen flowed
rufen call	rief called	gerufen called
S
salzen salt	salzte salted	gesalzen/gesalzt salted
saufen drink	soff drank	gesoffen drunk
saugen suck	sog* sucked	gesogen* sucked
* Also has the weak forms saugte and hat gesaugt. In technical use, only the weak form is used.
schaffen create; accomplish, make	schuf* created	geschaffen* created
*The strong forms schuf/hat geschaffen are used when the meaning is "created" ("Sie hat schöne Sachen geschaffen."). To express "accomplished" or "made it," the weak forms schaffte/hat geschafft are used: "Er hat es geschafft (ein Tor zu machen)!"
scheiden depart; separate	schied separated	geschieden* separated
*In the sense of "leave" or "depart" scheiden takes sein as a helping verb: "Karl ist aus dem Dienst geschieden."
scheinen shine	schien shone	geschienen shone
scheißen shit	schiss shit	geschissen shit
schelten scold	schalt scolded	gescholten scolded
schießen shoot	schoss shot	geschossen shot
schlafen sleep	schlief slept	geschlafen slept
schlagen hit	schlug hit	geschlagen hit
schleichen sneak	schlich sneaked	ist geschlichen sneaked
schleifen polish	schliff* polished	geschliffen* polished
*Although the strong form is preferred, schleifte and hat geschleift (weak) are also used.
schleißen slit	schliß slit	geschlissen slit
schließen close, lock	schloss closed	geschlossen closed
schlingen gulp (down)	schlang gulped	geschlungen gulped
schmeißen fling, toss	schmiss flung	geschmissen flung
schmelzen melt	schmolz melted	geschmolzen melted
schneiden cut	schnitt cut	geschnitten cut
schrecken scare	schrak/schreckte scared	geschreckt/geschrocken scared
schreiben write	schrieb wrote	geschrieben written
schreien scream	schrie screamed	geschrien screamed
schreiten step	schritt stepped	ist geschritten stepped
schweigen be silent	schwieg was silent	geschwiegen been silent
schwellen* swell, rise	schwoll swelled	ist geschwollen swollen
*There are two forms of schwellen: (1) strong (above) for the sense of "to swell up/fill with wind," and (2) weak to "fill (something) up with wind/to swell (something) up."
schwimmen swim	schwamm swam	ist geschwommen swum
schwinden dwindle	schwand dwindled	ist geschwunden dwindled
schwingen swing	schwang swung	geschwungen swung
schwören swear	schwur/schwor swore	geschworen sworn