92
Verbs: forms
i–a–o
i–a–u
spinnen – spann – gesponnen
singen – sang – gesungen
beginnen gewinnen
binden dringen finden gelingen klingen ringen schlingen
schwimmen
schwingen sinken springen stinken trinken verschwinden zwingen
ie – io – o bieten – bot – geboten biegen fliegen fliehen fließen
frieren genießen gießen kriechen
riechen schieben schießen schließen
verlieren wiegen
6.11 List of strong and irregular verbs Most German verbs are weak, and therefore quite regular, but many of the most frequently used verbs are strong or irregular in some way. There is no way of telling from the infinitive of a verb whether it is strong or irregular, and you should make a point of learning the PRINCIPAL PARTS of these verbs. By far the best way is to learn them out loud, so your ear helps you to memorize the vowel patterns. The table on the following pages gives all the frequent strong and irregular verbs, including those whose vowel changes do not follow the patterns detailed in 6.10.
Remember that these forms are also used when these verbs combine with
PREFIXES, e.g. entschwinden/verschwinden; entscheiden/unterscheiden; abfahren/hinfahren/ umfahren/wegfahren.
Learning these forms is time well spent as it can help you to expand your vocabulary, e.g. the forms of the verb sitzen – saß – gesessen (sit) provide clues to the meaning of the nouns das Gesäß (posterior) and der Sessel (armchair).
The vast majority of strong verbs follow the patterns given in 6.10, while a few strong verbs have other vowel changes. Vowel changes are highlighted in red in the table below.
A few verbs (brennen, kennen, nennen, rennen) have vowel changes but weak endings: brennen – brannte – gebrannt.
