LinguaStem + ending: how a German verb works
In the dictionary a German verb stands in the infinitive, and the infinitive almost always ends in -en: lernen, spielen, machen. Take away -en and you have the stem: lern-, spiel-, mach-. In the present tense the stem gets an ending that shows who is acting: ich lerne, du lernst, er lernt, wir lernen, ihr lernt, sie lernen, Sie lernen. You already know these endings from kommen and wohnen, and nearly every German verb uses them. The ending is not decoration: the verb has to agree with its subject, so ich lernt or du lernen is simply wrong.
| Pronoun | Ending | lernen (to learn) | spielen (to play) | machen (to do, to make) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ich | -e | lerne | spiele | mache |
| du | -st | lernst | spielst | machst |
| er / sie / es | -t | lernt | spielt | macht |
| wir | -en | lernen | spielen | machen |
| ihr | -t | lernt | spielt | macht |
| sie / Sie | -en | lernen | spielen | machen |
Ich lerne Deutsch, und Tom lernt Spanisch.I am learning German, and Tom is learning Spanish.
arbeiten, reisen, tanzen: small changes for easier pronunciation
Some stems need a little help. If the stem ends in -t or -d (arbeit-, find-), an extra e goes in before -st and -t, because arbeitst could hardly be pronounced: du arbeitest, er arbeitet, ihr arbeitet. If the stem ends in an s-sound (-s, -ß, -z), the du form adds only -t, since the s is already there: du reist, du tanzt, and du heißt, which you know from Wie heißt du?. A good habit: learn every new verb as three forms – infinitive, du form, er form: arbeiten – du arbeitest – er arbeitet. The irregular verbs in the bonus lesson of this unit show their surprises exactly in those two forms.
| Pronoun | arbeiten (to work) | reisen (to travel) | tanzen (to dance) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | arbeite | reise | tanze |
| du | arbeitest | reist | tanzt |
| er / sie / es | arbeitet | reist | tanzt |
| wir | arbeiten | reisen | tanzen |
| ihr | arbeitet | reist | tanzt |
| sie / Sie | arbeiten | reisen | tanzen |
gern, oft, heute: what you like and how often
To say that you like doing something, German takes the verb of the activity and adds gern (also written gerne): Ich schwimme gern = I like swimming, literally “I swim gladly”. gern stands after the verb: Wir kochen gern, Tom spielt gern Tennis. oft (often) and heute (today) sit in the same place: Ich trinke oft Tee. One more comfort: the German present covers several English tenses at once. Ich lerne means “I learn”, “I am learning” and “I do learn” – German has no -ing form and no helper verb like do.
Anna schwimmt gern, und ich spiele gern Tennis.Anna likes swimming, and I like playing tennis.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| lernen | to learn, to study | Maria lernt Japanisch. Maria is learning Japanese. |
| arbeiten | to work | Er arbeitet in Hamburg. He works in Hamburg. |
| spielen | to play | Wir spielen Fußball. We play football. |
| machen | to do, to make | Was machst du heute? What are you doing today? |
| hören | to hear, to listen to | Ich höre gern Musik. I like listening to music. |
| trinken | to drink | Trinkst du Kaffee oder Tee? Do you drink coffee or tea? |
| kochen | to cook | Mein Vater kocht sehr gut. My father cooks very well. |
| reisen | to travel | Sie reisen gern. They like travelling. |
| tanzen | to dance | Tanzt du gern? Do you like dancing? |
| schwimmen | to swim | Ihr schwimmt sehr gut. You (all) swim very well. |
| gern | gladly; (verb + gern) to like doing | Wir tanzen gern. We like dancing. |
| oft | often | Ich koche oft. I often cook. |
| heute | today | Paul arbeitet heute. Paul is working today. |
Exercises
This lesson has 11 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 3
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
You tell a new acquaintance where you work. Which sentence is correct?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.