Lesson 3 · German A1-2

Regular Verbs in the Present Tense

Regelmäßige Verben im Präsens

In Lesson 1 you noticed heißt becomes heißen, and kommst becomes kommen, depending on who's talking. That wasn't a coincidence - it's one pattern that covers almost every German verb. Learn it once today, and you can correctly conjugate verbs you've never even seen before.

Today's win: conjugate any regular German verb correctly for ich, du, er/sie/es, wir, and Sie - and use it to say where you live and what you're learning.

Strip -en, add the ending

Every German verb has a dictionary form (infinitive) ending in -en: wohnen (to live), lernen (to learn). Remove -en to get the stem (wohn-, lern-), then add an ending for each pronoun:

ich-e
du-st
er/sie/es-t
wir-en
Sie-en

Full table with two worked examples: Reference - Verb Conjugation.

Put it to work

Ich wohne in Berlin.
Ich lerne Deutsch.
Wohnst du auch in Berlin?
Wohnen Sie in Berlin?

This is the exact sentence pattern you'll use to answer "Wo wohnen Sie?" at the Anmeldung, and "Was lernen Sie?" in casual small talk.

Exception to flag now, not later: sein (to be), which you already learned in Lesson 1, does not follow this pattern - ich bin, not "ich seine." It's the one verb worth memorizing outside the rule.
Try it out loud: say three sentences about yourself using wohnen and lernen - where you live, and that you're learning German. Then ask a friend (imaginary or real) the same two questions using du.

Quick recall check

1. "I live in Berlin." - Ich ______ in Berlin.

Show answer
wohne

2. "Do you [informal] live in Munich?" - ______ du in München?

Show answer
Wohnst

3. "She learns German." - Sie ______ Deutsch.

Show answer
lernt

4. "Do you [formal] live in Munich?" - ______ Sie in München?

Show answer
Wohnen

5. What's the du-ending added to a verb stem?

Show answer
-st

Primary source

Pattern and verb list cross-checked against the official Goethe-Zertifikat A1 Wortliste.

Want to try conjugating a verb that wasn't covered here? Ask your teaching agent - it can check your conjugation live.

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