This is first draft. It will be edited. Please send your ideas to Harold Eddleman
Vocabularies show only the principal parts of a German verb.
Like English, German has weak verbs and strong verbs.
In German and English, all weak verbs follow a standard conjugation pattern. Likewise in both languages the strong verbs each tense has an individual spelling which must be learned. Actually the spellings fall into 4 classes and this army book presents the strong verbs grouped into the four classes.
Sample listing of some typical weak german verbs with translation to English:
einkaufen - to shop
kaufen - to buy
leben - to live
spielen - to play
shows only the infinitive, always ends with -en and the English meaning. Teachers commonly say: to shop, to buy, to live because that helps the beginner to realize the teacher is not talking about a stage play (performance) and not a verb. In print German nouns are capitalized. However, consider essen (to eat), Essen (a city in Germany), and das Essen (the meal). Notice that Capitialization, article, and way the word is used in the sentence enables Germans to understand which meaning is intended.
The spelling of the infinitive and its meaning is all the reader needs from the dictionary. From the infinitive, the student who knows how to conjugate weak verbs can write the spelling of all the other forms of the verb. The student only needs to drop the -en ending of the infinitive.
Unfortuneately, there are some weak verbs which have different spellings in one or more of the principal parts. They are still considered weak verbs because they are conjugated as weak verbs (use the weak verb endings). One just has to learn these exceptions.
Here are some examples from a vocabulary:
kkkkkkkkkkk
German Stehen stand gestanden || gehen ging gegangen English = stand stood stood || wor gone
kkkkkkkkkkkk
More discouraging exceptions to be memorized. Here are some important examples:
treffen, trifft, traf, getroffen = to meet. Notice trifft, it is a special spelling used in the present tense.
Some examples of special spellings in the present tense are fängt an, bespricht, bricht, lädt ein, enthält, isst, fährt, fällt, gibt, geschieht, hat, hält, hilft, lässt, läuft, liest, nimmt, schläft, sieht, ist, spricht, stiehlt, trägt, trifft, vergisst, verlässt, verschläft, verspricht, schlägt vor, wird, wirft, weiss, schlägt zu.
Someday, I hope to begin listing the strong verbs on ger419v.htm, but it is not ready in May 1999.