110 C-D: ‚Tricky‘ (stem-changing) Verbs

C-D: ‚Tricky‘ (stem-changing) Verbs

Some verbs follow the iche dust ten ten pattern, but are trickier than normal verbs, because they also change a bit on the inside when du or er/sie/es does the action. This is why we call them ‚tricky‘ verbs. 

e.g. sehen = to see

Sehr wichtig! Please note that the change only takes place for du and er/sie/es!

All of these verbs can be neatly split into three groups.

Group 1. e becomes ie, like in sehen above.

Other ‘tricky’ verbs from this group you need to know:

• fernsehen (to watch TV)
• aussehen (to look)
• lesen (to read)
• stehlen (to steal)

Group 2. e changes to i

The most important verbs that belong to this group are:

• brechen (to break)
• essen (to eat)
• geben (to give)
• helfen (to help)
• nehmen (to take)
• sprechen (to speak)
• sterben (to die)
• treffen (to hit)
• vergessen (to forget)
• werfen (to throw)

Groups 3. a changes to ä

The most important verbs that belong to this group are:

• backen (to bake)
• fahren (to drive) 
• fallen (to fall)
• fangen (to catch)
• anfangen(to start)
• halten  (to hold)
• anhalten (to stop) 
• laden  (to load)
• einladen (to invite)
• lassen (to leave, to let)
• laufen (to run)
• schlafen  (to sleep)
• einschlafen (to fall asleep)
• schlagen (to hit)
• tragen  (to carry)
• waschen (to wash)