How to Use Irregular Verbs in the German Perfekt Tense

Hallo, Deutschlerner. In my previous 2 videos I introduced you to the Perfekt tense in German. I showed you a ton of examples in an example dialogue skit and then showed you the basics of this tense and how it works with regular verbs. If you haven’t seen those two videos, I encourage you to watch those first. Today I’m going to explain how irregular verbs work in the Perfekt tense.

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Quick Review of Regular Perfekt Tense Verbs

Regular verbs, as I mentioned last week, generally add ge- to the front of the verb stem and -t to the end of it, changing verbs like “machen” into their Partizip 2 version “gemacht”. Irregular verbs will mostly have ge- at the beginning and will only remove the ge- in the same situations as regular verbs would (i.e. verbs with inseparable prefixes). Don’t forget that all verbs that end with -ieren are regular verbs, so those verbs don’t belong in this video about irregular verbs.

Formation of Irregular Verbs in the Perfekt Tense

The ending for irregular verbs in the Perfekt tense, however, is not always a -t. Sometimes you add -en to the end of the stem. This is most prominent in the irregular verbs that look like the infinitive with ge- slapped on the front. For example:

backen – gebacken

Ich backe einen Kuchen. –
I am baking a cake.

Ich habe einen Kuchen gebacken. –
I baked a cake.

einladen – eingeladen

(Quick Reminder: Verbs with separable prefixes will use ge- between the verb stem and the separable prefix.)

Er lädt deine Mutter zum Abendessen ein. –
He is inviting your mother to dinner.

Er hat deine Mutter zum Abendessen eingeladen. –
He invited your mother to dinner.

anfangen – angefangen

Das Spiel fängt um 3 an. –
The game starts at 3.

Das Spiel hat um 3 angefangen. –
The game started at 3.

schlafen – geschlafen

Ich schlafe nicht gut in der Nacht. –
I don’t sleep well at night.

Ich habe nicht gut in der Nacht geschlafen. –
I didn’t sleep well at night.

sehen – gesehen

Wir sehen deinen Bruder im Kino. –
We are seeing your brother at the movie theater.

Wir haben deinen Bruder im Kino gesehen. –
We saw your brother at the movie theater.

geben – gegeben

Sein Vater gibt ihm ein Auto. –
His father is giving him a car.

Sein Vater hat ihm ein Auto gegeben. –
His father gave him a car.

fahren – gefahren

I mentioned in my last lesson that “fahren” can be used with either “haben” or “sein” as a helping verb, so today I’ll show you both examples.

Fährst du mit dem Bus zur Schule? –
Do you ride the bus to school?

Bist du mit dem Bus zur Schule gefahren? –
Did you ride the bus to school?

Fährst du das Auto deines Vaters zur Schule? –
Are you driving your father’s car to work?

Hast du das Auto deines Vaters zur Schule gefahren? –
Did you drive your father’s car to school?

essen – gegessen

This one is a bit different, because it adds an extra G between the initial ge- and the infinitive “essen”. This is simply there to aid in pronunciation.

Ihre Tochter isst kein Schnitzel. –
Her daughter doesn’t eat schnitzel (cutlet).

Ihre Tochter hat kein Schnitzel gegessen. –
Her daughter didn’t eat schnitzel (cutlet).

bekommen – bekommen

Since there is an inseparable prefix, be-, there is no ge- added.

Wir bekommen jedes Jahr eine Karte von unserer Tante. –
We get a card from our aunt every year.

Wir haben jedes Jahr eine Karte von unserer Tante bekommen. –
We got a card from our aunt every year.

Irregular Verbs That Aren’t Just the Infinitive + ge- in the Front

In addition to verbs that are essentially the infinitive with ge- added to the front, there are other irregular verbs in the Perfekt tense that are just weird, because they often have stem changes and at first glance they can seem pretty random. For example:

wegnehmen – weggenommen

Fred nimmt mir mein Spielzeug weg. –
Fred is taking away my toy.

Fred hat mir mein Spielzeug weggenommen. –
Fred took away my toy.

aufstehen – aufgestanden

Er steht gegen 9 Uhr morgens auf. –
He gets up around 9 in the morning.

Er ist gegen 9 Uhr morgens aufgestanden. –
He got up around 9 in the morning.

beißen – gebissen

Charlie beißt mir in den Finger. –
Charlie is biting my finger.

Charlie hat mir in den Finger gebissen. –
Charlie bit my finger.

bleiben – geblieben

Die Kinder bleiben heute zu Hause. –
The children are staying home today.

Die Kinder sind heute zu Hause geblieben. –
The children stayed home today.

gehen – gegangen

Gehst du heute einkaufen? –
Are you going shopping today?

Bist du heute einkaufen gegangen? –
Did you go shopping today?

wissen – gewusst

Das weiß ich schon. –
I know that already.

Das habe ich schon gewusst. –
I knew that already.

So How Do I Learn All of These Verbs?

Confused Student: Uh… excuse me, Herr Lehrer. How am I supposed to remember the irregular past tense forms of verbs if they follow no real rhyme or reason between the infinitive, Präteritum and Perfekt tense?

Herr Antrim: It can seem that way at first, but when you take a step back and view a group of verbs together, you can often find some similarities and patterns. The easiest way to recognize these patterns is to include the simple past tense form of verbs along with the infinitive and the Partizip 2.

If you want to learn more about the German simple past tense, I have several videos about that tense linked here.

There is also an amazing website called “Verbix“, which lets you put in any German verb and see it conjugated in every tense, mood and voice. If you haven’t tried that, I recommend that you do.

Another way to go about it would be to buy the book Barron’s 501 German Verbs. It shows you everything you will ever need to know about 501 of the most popular German verbs. *These Amazon links are affiliate links.

Irregular Verb Patterns in the Past Tenses of German

There are many patterns that can be seen when you look at the changes irregular German verbs make between the infinitive, Prӓteritum tense and Partizip 2 (used for the Perfekt tense). In this video I will show you the most common patterns, which will help you to learn the past tense forms of German irregular verbs.

If you would like to download the charts listed below as a PDF for FREE, click here.

If you would like a worksheet to help you practice these irregular verbs plus an answer key, an mp3 version of the lesson and a copy of the video scripts, click here.

ei-ie-ie

Verbs that have ei in their stems in the present tense often switch to ie in the past tenses. For example:

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
bleiben	blieb	geblieben	to stay, remain
entscheiden	entschied	entschieden	to decide
leihen	lieh	geliehen	to loan, lend
scheinen	schien	geschienen	to shine
schreien	schrie	geschrien	to scream
schreiben	schrieb	geschrieben	to write
steigen	stieg	gestiegen	to climb

Be careful with this pattern, however, as there are plenty of regular verbs that have ei in the middle of them and there are also a few irregular exceptions to the rules. For example:

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
heißen	hieß	geheißen	to be called
reiten	ritt	geritten	to ride
schneiden	schnitt	geschnitten	to cut

Verb stems that have ei in their infinitive tend to have O’s in their past tenses. For example:

ie-o-o

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
biegen	bog	gebogen	to bend, kneel
bieten	bot	geboten	to offer, provide
fliegen	flog	geflogen	to fly
schießen	schoss	geschossen	to shoot
schließen	schloss	geschlossen	to close, shut
verlieren	verlor	verloren	to lose
ziehen	zog	gezogen	to pull

Of course there are exceptions to that pattern, most notably:

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
liegen	lag	gelegen	to lie, be located

If the verb stem has an I, you will see two distinct patterns. Some irregular verbs change to A in the simple past and O in the Perfekt and other irregular verbs change to A in the simple past, but U in the Perfekt tense. For example:

i-a-o

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
beginnen	begann	begonnen	to begin
gewinnen	gewann	gewonnen	to win
schwimmen	schwamm	geschwommen	to swim
spinnen	spann	gesponnen	to spin
sprechen	sprach	gesprochen	to speak
sterben	starb	gestorben	to die
treffen	traf	getroffen	to meet
werfen	warf	geworfen	to throw

Confused Student: WAIT! Those last 4 don’t have I in the infinitive! What is going on? How is this the same pattern?

Herr Antrim: Well, these verbs are all irregular in the present tense, too. They have a stem change from E to I. sprechen – spricht, sterben – stirbt, treffen – trifft, werfen – wirft. So while they don’t have I in their infinitive, they do still follow the I-A-O rule. In fact, there are several more like that. For example:

i-a-o (part 2)

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
brechen	brach	gebrochen	to break
helfen	half	geholfen	to help
nehmen	nahm	genommen	to take

Verbs that change from I to A and then U include:

i-a-u

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
finden	fand	gefunden	to find
klingen	klang	geklungen	to sound, ring
singen	sang	gesungen	to sing
trinken	trank	getrunken	to drink

There is another common pattern for verbs with I in their stem. This irregular verb category changes from I to A in the simple past tense and E in the Perfekt. This often happens with verbs that have a stem-change in the present tense. Unlike our last pattern, however, this one is not limited to verbs that change from E to I, but also includes the E to IE change. This is also the reason I put “liegen” in this list, as it changes from IE to A and then E. Here are a few verbs in this category.

i-a-e

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
bitten	bat	gebeten	to ask, request
essen	aß	gegessen	to eat
geben	gab	gegeben	to give
lesen	las	gelesen	to read
sehen	sah	gesehen	to see
treten	trat	getreten	to step, kick
sitzen	saß	gesessen	to sit
liegen	lag	gelegen	to lie
vergessen	vergaß	vergessen	to forget

Quick side note here: The verb sein sort of can be added to this category, as it does change from an I in the present tense to an A in the Prӓteritum and an E in the Perfekt. Because the stem changes a bit more in the Prӓteritum than other verbs, however, it is often left out of this list. It’s forms are:

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
sein	war	gewesen	to be

Verbs that have an A in their stem follow several patterns. First up is the change from A to U in the simple past and back to A in the Perfekt. Here are a few examples of that:

a-u-a

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
fahren	fuhr	gefahren	to drive
laden	lud	geladen	to load
schlagen	schlug	geschlagen	to hit, strike
tragen	trug	getragen	to carry
waschen	wusch	gewaschen	to wash

This group actually belongs to a larger group of verbs, whose stems simply change in the Prӓteritum, but go back to the same vowel in the Perfekt. While they aren’t always the same vowels in each verb in this category, there is an overarching connection to be seen.

x-y-x

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
laufen	lief	gelaufen	to run
heißen	hieß	geheißen	to be called
rufen	rief	gerufen	to call, yell
fangen	fing	gefangen	to catch
hӓngen	hing	gehangen	to hang

Quick side note here: fangen and hӓngen are technically the same, as fangen has a stem change in the present tense making it fӓngt with an umlaut.

These patterns are great for helping you learn the past tenses of irregular German verbs, but there are a few verbs that don’t really fit into any particular mold. For those, you will simply have to remember them. Here are a few examples of those.

Special Verbs

Infinitiv	Präteritum	Partizip 2	Englisch
gehen	ging	gegangen	to go
kommen	kam	gekommen	to come
stehen	stand	gestanden	to stand
tun	tat	getan	to do
werden	wurde	geworden	to become