Lesson 12: Verbs: present III
We've seen the present tense for weak verbs in a previous lesson, with some exceptions in another lesson. Quick recap: weak verb have a root (or stem) that doesn't change in the conjugations. Normal conjugations are -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en.
Strong verbs have a root that changes, but not necessarily in the present. For example, kommen is a strong verb but has the following endings we know very well:
- Ich komme
- du kommst
- er/sie/es kommt
- wir kommen
- ihr kommt
- sie/Sie kommen
The root for the verb kommen changes only in the past tense. But let's see some strong verbs whose root does change in the present tense. The changes only occur in the second and third person of the singular. So it's not that complicated.
Verbs with e in the stem change into i (for short-sounding e) and ie (for long-sounding e). If the verb stem ends with a d or t, no t is added in the third person.
So only the singular (plural remains the same):
lesen (= to read)
helfen (= to help)
gelten (= to be valid)
Strong verbs with a in the stem have an Umlaut in the second and third person. Same as for the previous one: if the verb ends with a d or t, no t is added in the third person.
Fahren (= to drive)
That wasn't so difficult, right? In the vocabulary, from now on, if the letter in the stem changes, it will be indicated (see the words here below, previous strong verbs didn't change in the present). There are many other exceptions, but they will be dealt with case by case.
Words
Exercises
Translate the following conjugations (review the vocabulary of previous lessons if necessary):
Verbs with e in the stem change into i (for short-sounding e) and ie (for long-sounding e). If the verb stem ends with a d or t, no t is added in the third person.
So only the singular (plural remains the same):
lesen (= to read)
- ich lese
- du liest
- er/sie/es liest
helfen (= to help)
- ich helfe
- du hilfst
- er/sie/es hilft
gelten (= to be valid)
- ich gelte
- du giltst
- er/sie/es gilt
Strong verbs with a in the stem have an Umlaut in the second and third person. Same as for the previous one: if the verb ends with a d or t, no t is added in the third person.
Fahren (= to drive)
- ich fahre
- du fährst
- er/sie/es fährt
That wasn't so difficult, right? In the vocabulary, from now on, if the letter in the stem changes, it will be indicated (see the words here below, previous strong verbs didn't change in the present). There are many other exceptions, but they will be dealt with case by case.
Words
Exercises
Translate the following conjugations (review the vocabulary of previous lessons if necessary):
- You go (singular)
- he reads
- she comes
- he helps
- it stops
- you promise (singular)
- she drives
- it is valid
____________________________
Solutions
- du gehst
- er liest
- sie kommt
- er hilft
- es hält
- du versprichst
- sie fährt
- es gilt
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