What Makes German Verbs So Quirky?

It's unfortunate that the first German verbs encountered by beginning language students are irregular -- words like "sein" (to be) or "haben" (to have). What makes German verbs so quirky, anyway?

All regular German verbs, also called weak verbs, are composed of a stem onto which a suffix has been grafted. When regular German verbs change tense, they do this in a predictable manner as well, by keeping their stem consistent and adding a consistent suffix or prefix to indicate the tense change.

Irregular German verbs, also known as strong verbs, are verbs that do not follow a typical pattern of conjugation. In irregular German verbs, the consonants in the verb stem may change as the word is conjugated, the vowel may change, or both may change. When irregular German verbs change tenses, they frequently do so in a wildly unpredictable manner; this is why they're called irregular.

There is also a third German verb class which is neither weak nor strong, regular nor irregular, but mixed - sharing characteristics of both other types. Because the irregular German verbs tend to be ones that are used most frequently, it may seem that most of the verbs in German are irregular, but that's not true.

Begin your study session by setting up a learning space that is calm and quiet; you're not going to learn to conjugate German verbs well in a noisy, chaotic environment. Now, assess which study methods will best help you memorize these tricky German verbs.

If you learn best by reading, you're probably a visual learner, and you may want to try putting your German verb forms on flash cards and asking a friend to test you on them. Many students find the mere act of writing words on paper combined with reading those words over to themselves serves as a powerful visual trigger, and this should help you master those quirky German verbs.

If you're an auditory learner, try repeating entire German verb conjugations into your favorite recording device and playing it back.

There are some people, called kinesthetic learners, who need to be physically engaged while they study, and for these people computer-based programs are ideal; and yes, it's definitely possible to find a computer-based program to learn German verbs!

Set a goal of learning two new German verbs per session, as well as reviewing the ones learned in previous sessions. When you feel confident that you can conjugate the irregular German verbs, ask a fellow German student to test your new-found knowledge.

All students who put their minds and hearts into mastering German verbs will be able to do so, if they find a method that works for them.