Verb conjugation · Präsens
Konjugation im Präsens
Conjugation means the verb changes its ending to match the subject: Ich gehe, du gehst, er geht.
ich fahre but du fährst — the stem quietly changes in two of the six rows. English barely conjugates at all (only the -s in “he goes”), so six endings feel like a lot. Here: the endings, how to find the stem, and the two rows where the vowel shifts.
Why you get stuck
ShortcutThere are four endings: -e · -st · -t · -en. The stem stays put; only the end changes.
You already do this in English, just in miniature: I go, you go, he goes. One ending, one person. German simply does it for every person — there are only six endings, and they all attach to the end of the verb.
The problem is not memorising. The problem is that in speech, after saying er, your English reflex leaves the verb bare — because English mostly does that. German does not forgive it; er gehen is not a sentence. The whole point of this page is to build the opposite reflex.
Er geht nach Hause.
He’s going home.
Er gehen nach Hause.
no ending — not a sentence
German has no separate “I am learning” and “I learn”. Ich lerne Deutsch means both. So the one conjugation you are about to learn covers almost all everyday speech.
How to find the stem
The dictionary form is called the Infinitiv, and almost all of them end in -en. Drop that ending and you are left with the stem; every conjugated form is built on it.
| Dictionary form | Stem | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lernen | lern- | to learn |
| wohnen | wohn- | to live (somewhere) |
| spielen | spiel- | to play |
| arbeiten | arbeit- | to work |
| sammeln | sammel- | to collect — only the -n drops |
With verbs ending in -eln and -ern (sammeln · ändern), only the final -n is removed.
Six endings — the table to save
This table is the whole page. Look at why it is easier than it seems: two endings are identical (wir and sie/Sie → -en), and two more are too (ihr and er → -t). So there are really only four endings to learn.
| Person | Ending | lernen | wohnen |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich · I | -e | ich lerne | ich wohne |
| du · you (informal) | -st | du lernst | du wohnst |
| er · sie · es · he / she / it | -t | er lernt | sie wohnt |
| wir · we | -en | wir lernen | wir wohnen |
| ihr · you all (informal) | -t | ihr lernt | ihr wohnt |
| sie · they / Sie · you (formal) | -en | sie lernen | Sie wohnen |
The wir and sie/Sie forms look exactly like the Infinitiv (lernen). That is no accident, and it is a gift: for those two persons you change nothing at all.
- The ending always attaches to the stem, not to the Infinitiv: lern + st, not lernen + st.
- You cannot drop the pronoun. In Spanish or Italian “I go” is one word; in German, as in English, you must write ich.
- The verb stays in second position: Heute lerne ich Deutsch. — when a time word takes the first slot, the subject moves behind the verb.
Three cases where the language adds a letter
These are not exceptions, they are ease of pronunciation. Where German would be hard to say, it slips in an e or swallows a repeated sound. Understand the three once and you never have to memorise them again.
| How the stem ends | What happens | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -t · -d | an e slips in for du and er/ihr | arbeiten → du arbeitest · er arbeitet |
| -m · -n (after a consonant) | the same e slips in | atmen → du atmest · öffnen → er öffnet |
| -s · -ß · -z · -x | the s of the du ending is swallowed → just -t | heißen → du heißt · sitzen → du sitzt |
The third row is where most mistakes happen: there is no such thing as du heißst. The ß already contains that sound.
Wie heißt du?
What’s your name? — a single t
Du arbeitest heute.
You’re working today. — an e slipped in
Three irregulars: sein · haben · werden
Only three conjugations in German truly have to be memorised. All three are the backbone of everyday speech: to be · to have · to become. Every other verb works with the endings in the table.
| Person | sein · to be | haben · to have | werden · to become |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | bin | habe | werde |
| du | bist | hast | wirst |
| er · sie · es | ist | hat | wird |
| wir | sind | haben | werden |
| ihr | seid | habt | werdet |
| sie · Sie | sind | haben | werden |
ihr seid is spelled with a d — seit means “since”. This is the pair people confuse most often in exams.
There is one more group: verbs whose stem vowel changes. Only in the du and er/sie/es rows does the vowel in the stem shift; the endings stay the same. The full list has its own page — for now, get to know the six most common.
| Verb | du | er · sie · es | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| fahren | fährst | fährt | a → ä |
| schlafen | schläfst | schläft | a → ä |
| sprechen | sprichst | spricht | e → i |
| essen | isst | isst | e → i |
| lesen | liest | liest | e → ie |
| nehmen | nimmst | nimmt | e → i + double m |
The change happens only in these two rows. wir fahren · ihr fahrt · sie fahren — everything else goes back to normal.
What you just learned
Du arbeit___ heute.
Show the answer
est. The stem ends in t (arbeit-), so a linking e slips in to make it easier to say: arbeitest.
“Er wohnst in Berlin.” is correct.
Show the answer
False. The ending -st is only for du (you). The third person singular (er/sie/es) takes -t: Er wohnt in Berlin.
Ihr ___ müde. (sein)
Show the answer
seid — with a d. seit is a completely different word: “since”.
Three traps
Forgetting the ending on er/sie/es
English trains you to leave the verb bare in most persons, so your brain does it here too. In German the -t is compulsory: er kommt · sie macht · es funktioniert.
“ihr” and “er” take the same ending
Both take -t, but they do not get mixed up, because the pronoun is different: ihr lernt (you all) · er lernt (he). It is a trap when listening, not writing — do not miss the pronoun at the start of the sentence.
The sie · sie · Sie trio
All three are spelled the same; the ending tells them apart: sie lernt = she · sie lernen = they · Sie lernen = you (formal, capitalised even mid-sentence).
If you have got past these three traps, you have got past all of A1 conjugation. The rest is vocabulary — the endings are always the same.
Know this before the test
The core of the topic in three lines, then the mistakes people make most often.
- The ending table: e st t en t en
ich -e · du -st · er -t · wir -en · ihr -t · sie/Sie -en. Every regular verb sings the same song.
ich wohne · du wohnst · er wohnt
- wir · sie · Sie = Infinitiv
The three plural forms look like the Infinitiv: wir lernen · sie kommen · Sie sprechen. The stem never changes.
Wir lernen jeden Tag Deutsch.
- A stem in -t/-d gets an -e-
arbeiten → du arbeitest · er arbeitet. The language opens up the unpronounceable pile-up by itself.
du antwortest
- A stem in -ß/-s never gets a double s
heißen → du heißt (not heißst). When the stem already ends in an s sound, the s of -st melts away.
Wie heißt du?
Er wohnst in Berlin.
Er wohnt in Berlin.
-st is the ending of du only.
du arbeitst
du arbeitest
A stem in -t takes the linking -e-.
du heißst
du heißt
When the stem ends in an s sound, the s of the ending drops.
Lena ist nett, aber sie sprechen sehr schnell.
Lena ist nett, aber sie spricht sehr schnell. → sie (she) is singular
sie can be three different persons; the verb ending tells you which.
Test yourself
Tap an answer — we will look at why together.
Du in Berlin. (wohnen)
You live in Berlin.
Er bei Siemens. (arbeiten)
He works at Siemens.
Wie du? (heißen)
What’s your name?
Ihr müde. (sein)
You’re tired (you all).
Sie sehr schnell. (sprechen · “she”)
Wir jeden Tag Deutsch. (lernen)
We learn German every day.
Practice done — –
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Präsens conjugation pocket card
This whole page — tables, traps, examples — as one PDF. Download it, print it, run through it before the exam.
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