German Strong Verbs (Se-Z)

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 - Se-Z
INFINITIV	PRÄTERITUM (Preterite)	PERFEKT (Past Participle)
Se
sehen see	sah saw	gesehen seen
sein be	war was	ist gewesen been
For the conjugation of sein in the present tense, see Two Important Verbs: haben and sein
senden* send, transmit	sandte sent	gesandt sent
*In the sense of "transmit" or "broadcast" only the weak forms sendete and hat gesendet are used. The weak forms may also be used in the sense of "send."
sieden boil	sott/siedete boiled	gesotten boiled
singen sing	sang sang	gesungen sung
sinken sink	sank sank	ist gesunken sunk
sitzen* sit	saß sat	gesessen sat
*Do not confuse sitzen (sit, strong) and (sich) setzen (set, weak)!
sollen should, ought to	sollte should	gesollt* should
*With an infinitive, the past participle is sollen: "Ich habe nicht gehen sollen."
spalten split	spaltete split	gespalten/gespaltet split
speien spew	spie spewed	gespien spewed
spinnen spin	spann spun	gesponnen spun
sprechen speak	sprach spoke	gesprochen spoken
sprießen sprout	spross sprouted	gesprossen sprouted
springen jump	sprang jumped	ist gesprungen jumped
stechen stab, sting	stach stung	gestochen stung
stehen stand	stand stood	gestanden* stood
*In some southern German and Austrian dialects, stehen takes sein as a helping verb: "Er ist im Eingang gestanden."
stehlen steal	stahl stole	gestohlen stolen
steigen climb	stieg climbed	ist gestiegen climbed
sterben die	starb died	ist gestorben died
stieben fly about	stob flew about	ist gestoben flown about
stinken stink	stank stank	gestunken stunk
stoßen push, bump	stieß pushed	gestoßen pushed
streichen strike, paint	strich struck	gestrichen struck
streiten argue	stritt argued	gestritten argued
T
tragen carry, wear	trug wore	getragen worn
treffen meet	traf met	getroffen met
treiben move, drive	trieb drove	getrieben* driven
*In the sense of "drift" or "float" treiben takes sein as a helping verb: "Das Eis ist den Fluss entlang getrieben."
triefen drip	triefte/troff dripped	getrieft dripped
trinken drink	trank drank	getrunken drunk
trügen be deceptive	trog was deceptive	getrogen been deceptive
tun do	tat did	getan done
U
überwinden overcome	überwand overcame	überwunden overcome
V
verderben spoil	verdarb spoiled	verdorben spoiled
verdrießen annoy	verdross annoyed	verdrossen annoyed
vergessen forget	vergaß forgot	vergessen forgotten
verlieren lose	verlor lost	verloren lost
verschleißen wear (out)	verschliss wore (out)	verschlissen worn (out)
verzeihen forgive	verzieh forgave	verziehen forgiven
W
wachsen* grow	wuchs grew	ist gewachsen grown
*In the sense of "to wax" (skis, etc.), wachsen is weak: (wachste and hat gewachst).
waschsen wash	wusch washed	gewaschsen washed
weben weave	wob/webte wove	gewoben/gewebt woven
weichen* yield	wich yielded	ist gewichen yielded
*In the sense of "to soften" (up), weichen is weak: (weichte and hat geweicht).
weisen indicate	wies indicated	gewiesen indicated
wenden turn	wandte* turned	gewandt* turned
*Also wendete and gewendet (car, hay, etc.).
werben recruit	warb recruited	geworben recruited
werden become	wurde became	ist geworden* become
*As a helping verb in the passive voice: worden, as in "Ich bin oft gefragt worden." (I have often been asked.)
werfen throw	warf threw	geworfen thrown
wiegen weigh	wog/wiegte weighed	gewogen/gewiegt weighed
winden twist	wand twisted	gewunden twisted
wissen* know	wusste knew	gewusst known
*The verb wissen is a "mixed" verb, combining elements of strong and weak verbs.
wollen want to	wollte wanted to	gewollt* wanted to
*With an infinitive, the past participle is wollen: "Ich habe nicht gehen wollen."
wringen wring	wrang wrung	gewrungen wrung
Z
zeihen accuse	zieh accused	geziehen accused
ziehen pull	zog pulled	gezogen pulled
zwingen compel	zwang compelled	gezwungen compelled