Unregelmäßige Verben (Irregular Verbs)

German irregular verbs change their stem vowel in the Präteritum and/or Partizip II. These must be memorized — there is no shortcut.

The Three Principal Parts

Every German verb has three forms you need to know:

1. Infinitiv — the dictionary form (gehen)
2. Präteritum — simple past, 3rd person singular (ging)
3. Partizip II — used with haben/sein for Perfekt (gegangen)

How to Identify Irregular Verbs

There are no perfect rules, but these patterns suggest a verb is likely irregular:

• Short monosyllabic stems with vowels: gehen, stehen, sehen, geben, nehmen
• High-frequency verbs: the most common German verbs are almost all irregular
• Stems with -ie-, -ei-, -au-: bieten, reiben, laufen often show vowel changes
• When in doubt: check the table below. Assume irregular for any verb you learned before A2.

Choosing haben or sein

The table shows which auxiliary each verb uses. The rule:

• Motion or change of state → sein: gehen, kommen, fahren, fliegen, werden, wachsen, sterben
• Everything else → haben: essen, trinken, schlafen, sehen, lesen, sprechen

When unsure, haben is more common.

Most Common Irregular Verbs

More Irregular Verbs

The 12 You Must Know First (A1)

Learn these before any others — they appear in almost every German sentence:

sein (war/gewesen) · haben (hatte/gehabt) · werden (wurde/geworden) · gehen (ging/gegangen) · kommen (kam/gekommen) · sehen (sah/gesehen) · geben (gab/gegeben) · nehmen (nahm/genommen) · stehen (stand/gestanden) · sprechen (sprach/gesprochen) · wissen (wusste/gewusst) · können (konnte/gekonnt)

Vowel Change Patterns

Most irregular verbs follow vowel shift patterns:

Examples