German Verbs

German verbs are found at the end of the sentence, rather than earlier in the sentence like in English. When working with them, there are set rules that are followed.

This makes it easier to learn German once you understand the grammatical rules that govern them. German verbs are divided into weak verbs and strong verbs.

Simple Infinitives

Simple infinitives are the basic form of verbs. These typically end with the suffix of –en, or in verbs that end with –l or –r, as –eln or –ern. An example of the –en ending would be "laufen," while examples of two of the others would be "wandeln" or "meistern".

Complex Infinitives

Complex infinitives add more to the original simple infinitive. You may see adverbs, predicative nouns and objects included in the sentence before the infinitive.

The important part of working with complex infinitives is understanding where the additional words are placed grammatically. Adverbs and adverbial phrases can be used as needed. Native adverbs are placed in front of the innermost verb.

Predicative nouns and adjectives can be used in the same manner as the adverb. This includes positive, comparative or superlative stems of adjectives. Objects and pronouns are placed normally before nominal phrase objects. Depending on the emphasis placed on the object, the order may change.

Conjugation of german verbs

Conjugation of verbs in the German language may appear complicated to the person new to the language, but actually is fairly easy.

There are six tenses in the German language; the present and past tenses are conjugated, and there are four compound tenses. Conjugation takes into consideration three persons, four moods and two numbers. Conjugative endings for verbs are

–e for ich,

-est or –st for du,

-e for er,

-en for wir,

-et for ihr and

–en for sie.

An example may be
ich bete, du betest,
er betet,
wir beten,
ihr betet,
and sie beten
for the verb beten, which means to pray.

Modal Verbs

When modal verbs are used, the main verb is always located at the end of the sentence, such as in the sentence "Ich kann das Auto fahren," or "I can drive the car." In this instance, the modal verb is "kann." Some other modal verb examples would include "sollen" (should, to be supposed) and "wollen" (to want).

Verbal Nouns and Verbal Adjectives

Verbal nouns and verbal adjectives are constructed similarly to simple and complex infinitives. Verbal nouns and verbal adjectives include past, present and future participles, agent nouns and gerund nouns.

Weak verbs form their past participle version by adding the prefix "ge-" and using the third person singular form of the verb.

Present participle versions merely add a "d" to the end of the infinitive of the verb. Future participle or gerundive is more complicated. Usually the word "zu" is added before the verb.

For agent nouns, the ending is removed and replaced by -er, -ler, or –erer. If the person in the sentence is female, the endings include an extra –in.

Gerund nouns are usually the same as the infinitive version. The gerund will not have a plural, and it is always gender neuter.