Genau
Topic test · A1

Irregular verbs test

13questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
Start the test Read the topic first

One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

13 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

Du nach Hause. (fahren)

You’re going home.

fährst. The a→ä pattern: the vowel changes in the du line.

Wir nach Hause. (fahren)

We’re going home.

fahren. The vowel change does not pass into the plurals; the wir line is identical to the infinitive.

Er ein Buch. (lesen)

He is reading a book.

liest. The e→ie pattern; because the stem ends in -s, only a single -t is added.

Du den Zug. (nehmen)

You take the train.

nimmst. In nehmen the h drops out, the m doubles and the vowel becomes i.

Er den Ball. (halten)

He is holding the ball.

hält. In vowel-changing verbs, even when the stem ends in -t, no -e- is inserted and no ending is added.

Imperative: ! (nehmen · du)

Take it!

Nimm! The e→i change is kept in the imperative, and it takes no ending.

Imperative: ! (fahren · du)

Drive!

Fahr! The a→ä change drops out in the imperative — that is the only difference between the two patterns.

Er gern Äpfel. (essen)

He likes eating apples.

essen changes its stem: du/er isst. Since the 1996 spelling reform it is not written with ß.

du das Schild? (sehen)

Do you see the sign?

sehen: the e → ie change happens only in du/er — du siehst · er sieht.

In WHICH persons does the stem vowel change?

The irregularity is squeezed into two persons: du fährst · er fährt but wir fahren · ihr fahrt. The plural is always calm.

The sentence “Ihr fährt nach Berlin.” is correct.

False. There is no vowel change in the plural persons; the correct form is ihr fahrt.

Du sehr gut Deutsch. (sprechen)

You speak German very well.

sprichst. sprechen changes with the (e→i) pattern: du sprichst.

Build the sentence: He is reading a book. (lesen)

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

The subject comes first, the conjugated verb (liest) is in second position.
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. The change is only in du and er

    du fährst · er fährt but wir fahren · ihr fahrt. The plural is never disturbed — which cuts the memorising in half.

    ich fahre · du fährst · wir fahren

  2. The a → ä family

    fahren · schlafen · halten · tragen — the stem’s a takes an Umlaut: er hält · du schläfst.

    Er hält den Ball.

  3. The e → i / ie family

    essen → isst · nehmen → nimmst · lesen → liest · sehen → siehst.

    Er liest ein Buch.

  4. In the imperative e → i stays, a → ä doesn’t

    Nimm! · Lies! · Iss! but Fahr! · Schlaf! — the Umlaut doesn’t carry over into the command.

    Nimm! · Fahr!

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Wir fährt nach Hause.

    Wir fahren nach Hause.

    In the plural the stem doesn’t change, and the ending is -en.

  • du nehmst

    du nimmst

    nehmen changes its stem: nimm-.

  • Fähr langsamer!

    Fahr langsamer!

    The a → ä change does not carry over into the imperative.

  • er eßt

    er isst

    The stem changes (e→i) and, since the spelling reform, is written with ss.