Mastering the conjugation of German irregular verbs is very important for communication, since they occur very often in the language and describe important actions and states. An interesting fact is that originally irregularity of verbs was the norm. This meant that verb forms were considered “regular” when they were actually irregular. Over time, the language transformed. Commonly used verbs, such as “haben,” “sein” and “kommen,” still retained their extremely irregular conjugation patterns, while the conjugation of less commonly used verbs (such as “arbeiten” or “hoeren”) modified and became steadily regular.
You may encounter two main types of conjugation of irregular verbs in Präsens tense. The first type of verbs is one in which the subject letter a is replaced by ä. For the second type of verbs, in their subject, the letter e can turn into i or ie.
Type one: replacing a with ä (fahren, laufen, schlafen)
In the subject of some irregular verbs, a is replaced by ä. See the examples of the verbs fahren (to drive), laufen (to run) and schlafen (to sleep).
| ich fahre | wir fahren |
| du fährst | ihr fahrt |
| er/sie/es fährt | sie/Sie fahren |
| ich laufe | wir laufen |
| du läufst | ihr lauft |
| er/sie/es läuft | sie/Sie laufen |
| ich schlafe | wir schlafen |
| du schläfst | ihr schlaft |
| er/sie/es schläft | sie/Sie schlafen |
The verbs backen (bake), tragen (carry), waschen (wash), wachsen (grow), halten (hold), gefallen (like), fallen (fall), and lassen (order, leave) are conjugated in the same way.
Type two: replacing e with i/ie (helfen, sehen, treffen)
In the subject of some irregular verbs, e is replaced by i or ie. Good examples are the verbs helfen (to help), sehen (to see), and treffen (to meet).
| ich helfe | wir helfen |
| du hilfst | ihr helft |
| er/sie/es hilft | sie/Sie helfen |
| ich sehe | wir sehen |
| du siehst | ihr seht |
| er/sie/es sieht | sie/Sie sehen |
| ich treffen | wir treffen |
| du triffst | ihr trefft |
| er/sie/es trifft | sie/Sie treffen |
The following verbs are similarly conjugated: befehlen (to command), empfehlen (to recommend), essen (to eat), geschehen (to happen), vergessen (to forget), werfen (to throw), nehmen (to take), sprechen (to speak), geben (to give), lesen (to read), stehlen (to steal), and geben (to give).
If you’d like to learn more about this topic, take a look at our article on trivia in modal verbs (where you’ll find a full table with three forms) and information on the variety of irregular verbs in the past tenses of Präteritum and Perfekt.
