Starke Verben - Strong Verbs - N-Schw

INFINITIV PR?TERITUM

(Preterite) PERFEKT

(Past Participle)

N

nehmen take nahm took genommen taken

nennen name nannte named genannt named

P

pfeifen whistle pfiff whistled gepfiffen whistled

preisen praise pries praised gepriesen praised

Q

quellen gush quoll* gushed ist gequollen* gushed

*Also has the weak forms quellte and hat gequellt.

R

raten advise riet advised geraten advised

reiben rub rieb rubbed gerieben rubbed

rei?en tear riss tore gerissen torn

reiten* ride ritt rode ist geritten ridden

*The verb reiten is only used for riding an animal (e.g., horseback riding); to express "ride" in a transportation sense (bus, train, etc.), fahren is used.

rennen run rannte ran ist gerannt run

*The verb rennen is a "mixed" verb, combining elements of strong and weak verbs. For more see our Mixed Verbs page.

riechen smell roch smelled gerochen smelled

ringen wring rang wrung gerungen wrung

rinnen flow rann flowed ist geronnen flowed

rufen call rief called gerufen called

S

salzen salt salzte salted gesalzen/gesalzt salted

saufen drink soff drank gesoffen drunk

saugen suck sog* sucked gesogen* sucked

* Also has the weak forms saugte and hat gesaugt. In technical use, only the weak form is used.

schaffen create;

accomplish, make schuf* created geschaffen* created

*The strong forms schuf/hat geschaffen are used when the meaning is "created" ("Sie hat sch?ne Sachen geschaffen."). To express "accomplished" or "made it," the weak forms schaffte/hat geschafft are used: "Er hat es geschafft (ein Tor zu machen)!"

scheiden depart; separate schied separated geschieden* separated

*In the sense of "leave" or "depart" scheiden takes sein as a helping verb: "Karl ist aus dem Dienst geschieden."

scheinen shine schien shone geschienen shone

schei?en shit schiss shit geschissen shit

schelten scold schalt scolded gescholten scolded

schie?en shoot schoss shot geschossen shot

See the ablaut groups for learning the various patterns (a-u-a, e-a-o, etc.) of German strong verbs.

schlafen sleep schlief slept geschlafen slept

schlagen hit schlug hit geschlagen hit

schleichen sneak schlich sneaked ist geschlichen sneaked

schleifen polish schliff* polished geschliffen* polished

*Although the strong form is preferred, schleifte and hat geschleift (weak) are also used.

schlei?en slit schli? slit geschlissen slit

schlie?en close, lock schloss closed geschlossen closed

schlingen gulp (down) schlang gulped geschlungen gulped

schmei?en fling, toss schmiss flung geschmissen flung

schmelzen melt schmolz melted geschmolzen melted

schneiden cut schnitt cut geschnitten cut

schrecken scare schrak/schreckte scared geschreckt/geschrocken scared

schreiben write schrieb wrote geschrieben written

schreien scream schrie screamed geschrien screamed

schreiten step schritt stepped ist geschritten stepped

schweigen be silent schwieg was silent geschwiegen been silent

schwellen* swell, rise schwoll swelled ist geschwollen swollen

*There are two forms of schwellen: (1) strong (above) for the sense of "to swell up/fill with wind," and (2) weak to "fill (something) up with wind/to swell (something) up."

schwimmen swim schwamm swam ist geschwommen swum

schwinden dwindle schwand dwindled ist geschwunden dwindled

schwingen swing schwang swung geschwungen swung

schw?ren swear schwur/schwor swore geschworen sworn