{"id":15958,"date":"2015-05-27T10:55:41","date_gmt":"2015-05-27T09:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/?p=15958"},"modified":"2015-05-27T10:55:41","modified_gmt":"2015-05-27T09:55:41","slug":"german-weak-verbs-with-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/15958\/german-weak-verbs-with-video","title":{"rendered":"German Weak Verbs with Video"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Weak-Verbs.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Weak-Verbs-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Weak-Verbs\" width=\"225\" height=\"225\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-15962\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Weak-Verbs-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Weak-Verbs-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Weak-Verbs.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">Weak Verbs in the Present Tense<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A verb is an action word that describes what something or someone <strong>does<\/strong>, <strong>is<\/strong> or <strong>happens to them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p> <strong>For example: <\/strong><br \/>\nI <strong>dance<\/strong> a lot.<br \/>\nShe <strong>works<\/strong> at the weekend.<\/p>\n<p> Verbs have a base form. This is the form shown in a dictionary. The base form is called the <strong>infinitive. <\/strong>In English, the infinitive is the verb with <strong>to<\/strong> in front of it, e.g. <strong>to<\/strong> play, <strong>to<\/strong> cook<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You can now learn even more on this topic with the help of a fun animation and a grammar quiz. Simply check out our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/module.php?id=6\">Free Time and Hobbies Module<\/a> in level A1.<\/p>\n<style>.embed-container { position: relative; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 50%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 80%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }<\/style>\n<div class='embed-container'><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2a_a9UC8p4c\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #fba90c;\">German Present Tense<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>\nThe German Present Tense is a pretty self-explanatory title. It&#8217;s used when you want to talk about something that is true at the moment, something that happens on a regular basis and what is happening now.<\/p>\n<p>The English language has two forms to deal with the present tense. One for things that are happening at the moment and the other for things that happen all the time. With the German present tense, however, you use one form for both of these situations.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Things that are happening at the moment:<\/strong><\/li>\n<p>Wir gehen jetzt ins Kino. \u21e8 We&#8217;re going to the cinema now.<\/p>\n<li><strong>Things that happen regularly or as a habit:<\/strong><\/li>\n<p>Ich spiele oft Tennis. \u21e8 I often play tennis.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>The -ing trap<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In English, we use the <strong>-ing<\/strong> ending very regularly. It is this that can create a lot of confusion for beginners when using the German present tense as this form <strong>doesn&#8217;t exist<\/strong> in German.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For example:<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;m playing football.<br \/>\nIch bin Fu\u00dfball spielen. \u21e8 <strong><span style=\"color: #f4412e;\">WRONG<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\nIch spiele Fu\u00dfball. \u21e8 <strong><span style=\"color: #11bb55;\">CORRECT<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #fba90c;\">Weak Verbs ending in -en, -eln and -ern<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>\nIn this blog we will show you <strong>weak verbs<\/strong> which may also be called <strong>regular verbs<\/strong>. Weak verbs are very structured in the present tense and often follow fairly straight forward rules. Knowing these rules can really help when forming a sentence and knowing which form of the verb you need to use.<\/p>\n<p>All German verbs are made up of two parts, the <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">stem<\/span><\/strong> and the <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">ending<\/span><\/strong>. The stem is the unique and main part of the verb and is formed by chopping the ending off the infinitive.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly all weak verbs end in <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-en<\/span><\/strong> in their infinitive form. The stem of these verbs is formed by chopping the ending <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-en<\/span><\/strong> off the infinitive.<\/p>\n<p>Only a few verbs end in <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-eln<\/span><\/strong> and <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-ern<\/span><\/strong>. Their stem is formed by just chopping off the ending <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-n<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For example:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">mach<\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">en<\/span><\/strong> (to make, to do) \u21e8 <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">mach<\/span><\/strong> (stem) <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-en<\/span><\/strong> (ending)<br \/>\n<br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">spiel<\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">en<\/span><\/strong> (to play) \u21e8 <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">spiel<\/span><\/strong> (stem) <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-en<\/span><\/strong> (ending)<br \/>\n<br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">angel<\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">n<\/span><\/strong> (to fish) \u21e8 <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">angel<\/span><\/strong> (stem) <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-n<\/span><\/strong> (ending)<br \/>\n<br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">wander<\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">n<\/span><\/strong> (to hike) \u21e8 <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">wander<\/span><\/strong> (stem) <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-n<\/span><\/strong> (ending)<\/p>\n<p>The ending of verbs can change depending on the subject pronoun that comes before the verb. With each of these pronouns, the ending of the verb is replaced by the appropriate new ending for the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Verbs ending in <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-eln<\/span><\/strong> or <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-ern<\/span><\/strong> have nearly the same endings as verbs ending in <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-en<\/span><\/strong>. The only difference is the plural <strong>wir<\/strong> and <strong>sie \/ Sie<\/strong> form that  only ends in <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-n<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p> Below you can see how weak verbs are formed in the present tense according to their subject pronouns.<br \/>\n <strong><br \/>\n <u>Table: Weak Verbs ending in -en, -eln and -ern<\/u><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<table class=\"grammar-table\">\n<tr>\n<th width=\"100\"><\/th>\n<th width=\"200\">Verb Stem<\/th>\n<th width=\"100\">Ending<\/th>\n<th width=\"200\">Completed Form<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>ich<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">spiel \/ angl \/ wander<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-e<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">ich spiele \/ ich angle \/ ich wandere<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>du<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">spiel \/ angel \/ wander<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-st<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">du spielst \/ du angelst \/ du wanderst<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>er \/ sie \/ es<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">spiel \/ angel \/ wander<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-t<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">er spielt \/ er angelt \/ er wandert<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>wir<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">spiel \/ angel \/ wander<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-en \/ -n \/ -n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">wir spielen \/ wir angeln \/ wir wandern<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>ihr<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">spiel \/ angel \/ wander<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-t<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">ihr spielt \/ ihr angelt \/ ihr wandert<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>sie \/ Sie<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">spiel \/ angel \/ wander<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-en \/ -n \/ -n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">sie spielen \/ sie angeln \/ sie wandern<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>\nThis is the basis of verb construction across the whole German language. Knowing this rule will help you with forming the verb.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note<\/strong>: The <strong>-e<\/strong> of verbs ending in <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-eln<\/span><\/strong> is chopped off in the <strong>ich form<\/strong> to make pronunciation easier.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For example:<\/strong><br \/>\nangeln: ich angle \u21e8 I&#8217;m fishing<br \/>\nsammeln: ich sammle \u21e8 I&#8217;m collecting<\/p>\n<p><strong>Example sentences:<\/strong><br \/>\nIch <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">mache<\/span><\/strong> viel Sport. \u21e8 I do a lot of sports.<br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">Spielst<\/span><\/strong> du gerne Tennis? \u21e8 Do you like playing football?<br \/>\nEr <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">sammelt<\/span><\/strong> Briefmarken. \u21e8 He collects stamps.<br \/>\nWir <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">wandern<\/span><\/strong> viel. \u21e8 We hike a lot.<br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">Kocht<\/span><\/strong> ihr gerne? \u21e8 Do you like cooking?<br \/>\nSie <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">spielen<\/span><\/strong> gerne Computerspiele. \u21e8 They like playing computer games.<\/p>\n<p>\nHere is a list of what we thought are the <strong>most commonly used German weak verbs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<table class=\"prep\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"1\" style=\"width:100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">brauchen (to need)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">h\u00f6ren (to hear)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">machen (to do, to make)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">erz\u00e4hlen (to tell)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">kaufen (to buy)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">sagen (to say)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">fragen (to ask)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">lachen (to laugh)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">spielen (to play)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">glauben (to believe, to think)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">legen (to lay, to put)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">suchen (to search, to look for)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">holen (to get, to fetch)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">lieben (to love)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:33%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">wohnen (to live)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Good to know:<\/strong> While it&#8217;s grammatically incorrect, many Germans chop off the <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-e<\/span><\/strong> at the end when speaking in the <strong>ich form<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For example:<\/strong><br \/>\n&#8220;Ich spiel viel Fu\u00dfball.&#8221; instead of &#8220;Ich spiel<strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">e<\/span><\/strong> viel Fu\u00dfball.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/br><\/p>\n<table class=\"grammar-table\">\n<tr>\n<th>Tip<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Although the ending of weak verbs is important, you will get it wrong from time to time. Do not worry as although it may sound a little weird to a native German, you will be understood and they will still have great respect for you as you gave it your best shot. Remember, learning a language is all about being able to communicate in that language, not to get everything spot on first time. Learn and enjoy!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #fba90c;\">Weak Verbs whose Stem is ending in -d, -t, -m and -n<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>\nWeak verbs whose stem ends in <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-d<\/span><\/strong>, <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-t<\/span><\/strong>, <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-m<\/span><\/strong> and <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">-n<\/span><\/strong> add an extra <strong>-e<\/strong> before the ending in the <strong>du<\/strong>, <strong>er \/ sie \/ es<\/strong> and <strong>ihr form<\/strong>. This was done to make the pronunciation easier.<\/li>\n<p><strong>For example:<\/strong><br \/>\ndu red<strong>e<\/strong>st (you talk, you are talking)<br \/>\ner arbeit<strong>e<\/strong>t (he works, he is working)<br \/>\nihr atm<strong>e<\/strong>t (you breathe, you are breathing)<br \/>\ndu \u00f6ffn<strong>e<\/strong>st (you open, you are opening)<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Table: Weak Verbs whose Stem is ending in -d, -t, -m and -n<\/u><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<table class=\"grammar-table\">\n<tr>\n<th width=\"80\"><\/th>\n<th width=\"150\">Verb Stem<\/th>\n<th width=\"80\">Ending<\/th>\n<th width=\"200\">Completed Form<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>ich<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">red \/ arbeit \/ atm \/ \u00f6ffn<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-e<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">ich rede \/ ich arbeite \/ ich atme \/ ich \u00f6ffne<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>du<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">red<strong>e<\/strong> \/ arbeit<strong>e<\/strong> \/ atm<strong>e<\/strong> \/ \u00f6ffn<strong>e<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-st<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">du redest \/ du arbeitest \/ du atmest \/ du \u00f6ffnest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>er \/ sie \/ es<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">red<strong>e<\/strong> \/ arbeit<strong>e<\/strong> \/ atm<strong>e<\/strong> \/ \u00f6ffn<strong>e<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-t<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">er redet \/ er arbeitet \/ er atmet \/ er \u00f6ffnet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>wir<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">red \/ arbeit \/ atm \/ \u00f6ffn<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-en<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">wir reden \/ wir arbeiten \/ wir atmen \/ wir \u00f6ffnen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>ihr<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">red<strong>e<\/strong> \/ arbeit<strong>e<\/strong> \/ atm<strong>e<\/strong> \/ \u00f6ffn<strong>e<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-t<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">ihr redet \/ ihr arbeitet \/ ihr atmet \/ ihr \u00f6ffnet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><strong>sie \/ Sie<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">red \/ arbeit \/ atm \/ \u00f6ffn<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">-en<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">sie reden \/ sie arbeiten \/ sie atmen \/ sie \u00f6ffnen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Example sentences:<\/strong><br \/>\nEr <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">redet<\/span><\/strong> viel. \u21e8 He talks a lot.<br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">Arbeitest<\/span><\/strong> du viel? \u21e8 Do you work a lot?<\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Exception:<\/strong> This rule doesn&#8217;t apply to verbs that have a <strong>l<\/strong>, <strong>r<\/strong> or <strong>h<\/strong> before the <strong>-m<\/strong> or <strong>-n<\/strong> stem. But don&#8217;t panic yet. There are only a few verbs whose stem ends in <strong>-d<\/strong>, <strong>-t<\/strong>, <strong>-m<\/strong> and <strong>-n<\/strong>. The most important ones are: <\/p>\n<table class=\"prep\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"1\" style=\"width:100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<th style=\"width:50%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">antworten (to work)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:50%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">lernen (to learn)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<th style=\"width:50%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">arbeiten (to work)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:50%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">\u00f6ffnen (to open)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<th style=\"width:50%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">atmen (to breathe)<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:50%; text-align:left; font-weight:normal !important\">reden (to talk)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Weak Verbs in the Present Tense A verb is an action word that describes what something or someone does, is or happens to them. For example: I dance a lot. She works at the weekend. Verbs have a base form. This is the form shown in a dictionary. The base form is called the infinitive. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[26,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15958"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15958"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15975,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15958\/revisions\/15975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}