Regular Verbs (Regelmäßige Verben) in German
When you take a German infinitive, for example kommen (to come), and remove the -en ending, what remains is called the stem (Stamm). In regular verbs, the stem does not change during conjugation. For example, the stem of kommen is komm.
Conjugation of kommen (to come)
| Pronoun | Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ich | komme | I come |
| du | kommst | you come (informal singular) |
| er / sie | kommt | he / she comes |
| Sie | kommen | you come (formal) |
| wir | kommen | we come |
| ihr | kommt | you come (plural informal) |
| sie (plural) | kommen | they come |
Other regular verbs include lernen (to learn), studieren (to study), and wohnen (to live).
Example:
Ich komme aus dem Iran. — I come from Iran.
Ich lerne Deutsch. — I learn German.
Special case: heißen (to be called)
Since the stem of heißen (heiβ) ends in ß, the second person singular uses -t instead of -st.
| Pronoun | Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ich | heiße | I am called |
| du | heißt | you are called |
| er / sie | heißt | he / she is called |
| Sie | heißen | you are called (formal) |
| wir | heißen | we are called |
| ihr | heißt | you are called (plural informal) |
| sie (plural) | heißen | they are called |
Special case: verbs with stems ending in -t
For verbs like arbeiten (to work) or antworten (to answer), an e is inserted before the endings -st or -t to aid pronunciation.
| Pronoun | arbeiten | antworten |
|---|---|---|
| ich | arbeite | antworte |
| du | arbeitest | antwortest |
| er / sie | arbeitet | antwortet |
| Sie | arbeiten | antworten |
| wir | arbeiten | antworten |
| ihr | arbeitet | antwortet |
| sie (plural) | arbeiten | antworten |