In German, weak verbs follow a very particular pattern of conjugation. In addition to strong – or irregular – verbs, there is a third category of verbs: irregular weak verbs.
You can form the past tenses by inserting a “-t” before the endings but they are NOT regular. These Weak Irregulars (or Mixed verbs) do have the vowel in the Imperfect and Past Participle different from that in the Infinitive, ex:
Please note that there are two exceptions:
Senden (to send) and Wenden (to turn) have two different forms when conjugated in the past tenses, for example:
There are 9 irregular weak verbs in German:
| Infinitive | Imperfect | Past Participle II | Traduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| brennen | brannte | gebrannt | to burn |
| bringen | brachte | gebracht | to bring |
| denken | dachte | gedacht | to think |
| kennen | kannte | gekannt | to know |
| nennen | nannte | genannt | to name |
| rennen | rannte | gerannt (+ sein) | to tun |
| senden | sandte, sendete | gesandt, gesendet | to send |
| wenden | wandte, wendete | gewandt, gewendet | to turn |
| wissen | wusste | gewusst | to know |
Be careful, wissen is irregular in the present tense.
Be careful, in Konjunktiv Präsens II some of these verbs are irregular: brennen, kennen, nennen et rennen come to brennte, kennte, nennte, rennte
The most frequently used verbs in German: sein haben geben finden gehen wissen kommen können liegen sehen
