Present tense: verb patterns and high-frequency verbs
Green takes over. One regular pattern, seven irregular workhorses, and the rule that governs where a German verb sits.
Colours live this week
10 of 10 in playA thing, a person or a place.
An action or a state — what is happening.
Describes a noun.
Modifies a verb or an adjective.
the / a / some — and possessives like mon, ma.
Stands in for a noun — I, you, he, it.
Links words together — to, in, of, for.
Joins two parts of a sentence.
Opens a question — where, when, how, why.
Learn it whole. Do not take it apart.
The full palette has been live since Week 4. From here on nothing new is introduced — you simply use all nine.
What to produce, and what only to recognise
The forms to produce are ich, Sie, er/sie/es and wir. Du and ihr are recognition-only for now — and note that Sie, the polite you, takes the same form as the plural they, which halves the work. Use Sie with anyone you have not been invited to call du.
The regular pattern
Most German verbs take these endings. Learn one model verb and the rest follow.
| Verb | ichreviewed | du | er / sie / es | wir | ihr | sie / Sie |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| machento do or make | mache | machst | macht | machen | macht | machen |
| wohnento live, to reside | wohne | wohnst | wohnt | wohnen | wohnt | wohnen |
| arbeitento work | arbeite | arbeitest | arbeitet | arbeiten | arbeitet | arbeiten |
Only the ich column becomes a review card. The rest are there to be recognised, not produced — which is what keeps a day inside its fifteen minutes.
Seven irregular verbs worth more than any others
Several change their vowel in the du and er forms — ich fahre but er fährt. Since those are recognition-only for now, do not let it slow you down.
| Verb | ichreviewed | du | er / sie / es | wir |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| seinto be | bin | bist | ist | sind |
| habento have | habe | hast | hat | haben |
| gehento go (on foot) | gehe | gehst | geht | gehen |
| fahrento go (by vehicle) | fahre | fährst | fährt | fahren |
| könnencan, to be able | kann | kannst | kann | können |
| wollento want | will | willst | will | wollen |
| nehmento take | nehme | nimmst | nimmt | nehmen |
Only the ich column becomes a review card. The rest are there to be recognised, not produced — which is what keeps a day inside its fifteen minutes.
The verb is always the second idea
German puts the conjugated verb in the second position of a statement — not the second word, the second idea. Ich wohne in London. But if you start with something else, the verb still holds that slot and the subject moves behind it: Heute wohne ich in London. Morgen gehe ich ins Kino. English does not do this, and it is the mistake that marks out a beginner more than any vocabulary gap. Say it enough times and it stops feeling backwards.
Chunks built from those verbs
- [ich bin]I am
- [ich habe]I have
- [ich gehe]I'm going
- [können Sie]can you (formal)
- [das ist]that is
- [es gibt]there is / there are
Literally it gives. One phrase for both singular and plural, and the noun after it takes the object form: es gibt einen Bahnhof.
Sentence frames
- 1
Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch.
I speak a little German.
The single most useful sentence you will learn all year.
- 2
Können Sie das wiederholen, [bitte]?
Can you repeat that, please?
Two verbs, so wiederholen goes to the end.
- 3
Wir gehen ins Café.
We're going to the café.
Ins is in + das — German contracts its prepositions too.
Daily mini-tasks
Listening this week
Coffee Break German — the verb episodes
Season 1
Clear conjugation drills. Ideal for shadowing at 0.75× speed.