All verbs in German consist of two parts: the subject and the ending. The subject is the invariable part of the verb, while the ending changes according to person and number. Verbs in the impersonal form, which is the form in which they appear in the dictionary, have an ending of -en.
One of the basic things you need to learn in order to conjugate a verb correctly is what endings each person takes. Most German verbs are conjugated regularly. This means that you subtract the infinitive ending -en and add the corresponding person ending in its place. Take a look at the table below:
| German | |
|---|---|
| ich (I) | -e |
| du (you) | -st |
| er/sie/es (he/she/it) | -t |
| wir (we) | -en |
| ihr (you) | -t |
| sie/Sie (they) | -en |
Let’s take a closer look at this using the example of the verb lernen (to learn). Its subject is lern-, and its ending is –en. Now we will conjugate this verb by persons. Note that the subject does not change, and the ending is added according to the table above.
| German | |
|---|---|
| ich | lerne |
| du | lernst |
| er/sie/es | lernt |
| wir | lernen |
| ihr | lernt |
| sie/Sie | lernen |
Sometimes there can be a minor irregularity in verb conjugation. Without it, some verbs would be very difficult to pronounce. For example, the verb atmen (to breathe) for the 2nd person singular would sound like atmst, and for the 3rd person, atmt.
To make pronunciation easier in such cases, verbs whose subject ends in -d, -t, -tm, -chn, or -ffn receive an ending extended by the vowel -e in the 2nd and 3rd person singular and 2nd person plural. See the example of the verb atmen:
| German | |
|---|---|
| ich | atme |
| du | atmest |
| er/sie/es | atmet |
| wir | atmen |
| ihr | atmet |
| sie/Sie | atmen |
Other verbs that conjugate according to this rule are, for example, arbeiten (work), antworten (answer), warten (wait), öffnen (open), zeichnen (count) finden (find).
If you want to know more about German verbs, read articles about “German verbs and their conjugation”, modal verbs and irregular verbs.
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