Verbkonjugation
Verb Conjugation
Verb Conjugation
4. How a verb is conjugated: Part 1
Now, we have come to the verb conjugation or, in German, Verbkonjugation itself. How does the verb change for the various Personalpronomen that we have seen in the last chapter? Wherever possible, we will apply the inductive method, i.e. you will discover the rules of conjugation for yourself.
Read the example sentences below and see if you can figure out the verb endings for the verb wohnen. Type the endings into the table.
| Stamm | | Endung |
| ich wohn |
 Well done, you're right!
 No, look at example 1 again.
|
| du wohn |
Well done, you're right!
No, look at example 3 again.
|
| er/sie/es wohn |
Well done, you're right!
No, look at examples 2 & 4.
|
Examples
1
2
3
4
1. Ich wohne jetzt in Mannheim.
2. Mein Lehrer wohnt in Jurong.
3. Wo wohnst du in Seckenheim?
4. Die Studentin wohnt bei ihrer Mutter.
Read the example sentences below and see if you can figure out the verb endings for the verb wohnen. Type the endings into the table.
| Stamm | | Endung |
| wir wohn |
Well done, you're right!
No, look at example 5 again.
|
| ihr wohn |
Well done, you're right!
No, look at example 4 again.
|
| Sie wohn |
Well done, you're right!
No, look at example 1 again.
|
| sie wohn |
Well done, you're right!
No, look at examples 2 & 3.
|
Examples
1
2
3
4
5
1. Wohnen Sie in dieser Stadt?
2. Herr und Frau Mariotta wohnen hier.
3. Die Studenten wohnen auf dem Campus.
4. Hallo, Peter. Hallo, Frank. Wohnt ihr hier?
5. Ja, wir wohnen in diesem Haus?
Now, we have come to the verb conjugation or, in German, Verbkonjugation itself. How does the verb change for the various Personalpronomen that we have seen in the last chapter? Wherever possible, we will apply the inductive method, i.e. you will discover the rules of conjugation for yourself. You have just discovered how the German verb wohnen conjugates. Wohnen is a regular verb or, in German, regelmäßiges Verb. Click next to see a summary and more examples of regular verbs.
TO SUMMARISE:
| wohnen | |
| ich | wohne |
| du | wohnst |
| er/sie/es | wohnt |
| wir | wohnen |
| ihr | wohnt |
| Sie | wohnen |
| sie | wohnen |
Notice that only the Endung changes, while the Stamm remains the same. You will have to learn the endings by heart. Another regular verb we have seen is kommen.
Click next to see the conjugation of kommen.
Click next to see the conjugation of kommen.
TO SUMMARISE:
| wohnen | kommen | |
| ich | wohne | komme |
| du | wohnst | kommst |
| er/sie/es | wohnt | kommt |
| wir | wohnen | kommen |
| ihr | wohnt | kommt |
| Sie | wohnen | kommen |
| sie | wohnen | kommen |
Notice that only the Endung changes, while the Stamm remains the same. You will have to learn the endings by heart. Another regular verb we have seen is kommen.
Click next to continue.
Click next to continue.
TO SUMMARISE:
| wohnen | kommen | |
| ich | wohne | komme |
| du | wohnst | kommst |
| er/sie/es | wohnt | kommt |
| wir | wohnen | kommen |
| ihr | wohnt | kommt |
| Sie | wohnen | kommen |
| sie | wohnen | kommen |
Other regular verbs or regelmäßige Verben you may have seen before are
lernen, studieren, markieren, machen, hören, schreiben
Two minor exceptions among regelmäßige Verben are heißen and arbeiten. Click on them to see why.
The Verb heißen
| heißen | |
| ich | heiße |
| du | heißt |
| er/sie/es | heißt |
| wir | heißen |
| ihr | heißt |
| Sie | heißen |
| sie | heißen |
heißen is a regular Verb but its conjugation is different from the other verbs for one of the pronouns. Can you spot the difference? Click on it.
No, this ending is regular! Try again or click next.
BACK
NEXT
The Verb heißen
| heißen | |
| ich | heiße |
| du | heißt |
| er/sie/es | heißt |
| wir | heißen |
| ihr | heißt |
| Sie | heißen |
| sie | heißen |
Richtig! For du, the Endung is just t instead of st. This is because the scharfes S(ß) in the Stamm is the equivalent of ss. To prevent having three of the same alphabet together, the s is dropped from the usual Endung, leaving only t.
BACK
The Verb arbeiten
| arbeiten | |
| ich | arbeite |
| du | arbeitest |
| er/sie/es | arbeitet |
| wir | arbeiten |
| ihr | arbeitet |
| Sie | arbeiten |
| sie | arbeiten |
Like heißen, arbeiten is regular but there are some minor differences from the usual conjugation. Can you spot the differences? Click next to read more notes.
BACK
NEXT
The Verb arbeiten
| arbeiten | |
| ich | arbeite |
| du | arbeitest |
| er/sie/es | arbeitet |
| wir | arbeiten |
| ihr | arbeitet |
| Sie | arbeiten |
| sie | arbeiten |
As you can see, an additional e is added to the Endung for du, er/sie/es and ihr.
Otherwise the verb would become unpronounceable. Try saying 'arbeitst'. Near impossible, isn't it?
Otherwise the verb would become unpronounceable. Try saying 'arbeitst'. Near impossible, isn't it?
BACK
A LEARNING STRATEGY
Humans are strategic beings. Thus, it is no surprise that the best learners make their learning more effective by using strategies. In the next frame, we will show you a strategy for learning the verb endings.
| wohnen | |
| ich | wohne |
| du | wohnst |
| er/sie/es | wohnt |
| wir | wohnen |
| ihr | wohnt |
| Sie | wohnen |
| sie | wohnen |
Grouping Strategy
Take a look at the conjugation of wohnen again. Notice that some of the pronouns actually have the same endings. Does this give you an idea to learn more effectively and easily? Think about it and then click next for the answer.
| wohnen | |
| ich | wohne |
| du | wohnst |
| er/sie/es | wohnt |
| wir | wohnen |
| ihr | wohnt |
| Sie | wohnen |
| sie | wohnen |
Grouping Strategy
Simply redo the conjugation table and group those pronouns that share the same endings. Doesn't this make learning less taxing? Now there is no need to worry about those endings.
Grouping Strategy
Simply redo the conjugation table and group those pronouns that share the same endings. Doesn't this make learning less taxing? Now there is no need to worry about those endings.
© Dr. Chan Wai Meng, 2003 -
2025
