Starke Verben - Strong Verbs - A-F

INFINITIV PR?TERITUM

(Preterite) PERFEKT

(Past Participle)

A A A

anfangen begin fing an began angefangen begun

ankommen arrive kam an arrived ist angekommen arrived

anrufen call up rief an called up angerufen called up

B B B

backen bake backte baked gebacken baked

befehlen command befahl commanded befohlen commanded

beginnen begin begann began begonnen begun

bei?en bite biss bit gebissen bitten

bekommen get, receive bekam got bekommen gotten

bergen salvage barg salvaged geborgen salvaged

bersten burst barst burst geborsten burst

betrügen deceive betrog deceived betrogen deceived

biegen bend bog bent gebogen bent

bieten offer bot offered geboten offered

binden tie band tied gebunden tied

bitten request bat requested gebeten requested

blasen blow blies blew geblasen blown

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

bleiben stay blieb stayed ist geblieben stayed

bleichen bleach blich bleached geblichen bleached

braten roast briet roasted gebraten roasted

brechen break brach broke gebrochen broken

brennen* burn brannte burned gebrannt burned

bringen* bring brachte brought gebracht brought

*Both brennen and bringen are "mixed" verbs, combining elements of strong and weak verbs. For more see our Mixed Verbs page.

D D D

denken* think dachte thought gedacht thought

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

dreschen thresh drosch threshed gedroschen threshed

dringen force drang forced gedrungen forced

dürfen may durfte was allowed gedurft* been allowed

*Used with an infinitive, as for all modals, the past participle is the infinitive dürfen: "Wir haben nicht gehen dürfen."

E E E

empfangen receive empfing received empfangen received

empfehlen recommend empfahl recommended empfohlen recommended

erfinden invent erfand invented erfunden invented

erl?schen extinguish erlosch extinguished erloschen extinguished

erschallen echo, sound erscholl sounded erschollen sounded

erschrecken* scare erschrak scared erschrocken scared

*This verb has both strong (passive) and weak (active) forms: "Ich habe ihn erschreckt." (I scared him.) and "Ich erschrak bei der Explosion." (I was startled/scared by the explosion.)

essen eat a? ate gegessen eaten

F F F

fahren travel fuhr traveled ist gefahren traveled

fallen fall fiel fell ist gefallen fallen

fangen catch fing caught gefangen caught

fechten fence focht fenced gefochten fenced

finden find fand found gefunden found

fliegen fly flog flew ist geflogen flown

fliehen flee floh fled ist geflohen fled

flie?en flow floss flowed ist geflossen flowed

fressen gorge fra? gorged gefressen gorged

frieren freeze fror froze gefroren* frozen

*The verb frieren takes the helping verb haben or sein, depending on its meaning. In most cases ("to be cold") it is "hat gefroren," but in the meaning of "to freeze, turn into ice," it is "Der Boden / Das Wasser ist steif gefroren." (The ground / water has frozen solid.)

frohlocken rejoice frohlockte rejoiced frohlockt rejoiced