What are weak, strong, and mixed verbs in German?

German verbs come in one of three distinct categories:

1. weak verbs also known as “regular verbs” or schwache Verben

2. strong verbs also known as “irregular verbs” or starke Verben

3. mixed verbs also known as “irregular weak verbs” or Mischverben

The vast majority of German verbs are weak verbs which are fully regular, meaning they take the expected endings and forms in every tense and form. However, some of the most common German verbs are strong or mixed, and verbs in both categories will have at least some irregular or unpredictable forms. Compare:

The good news is: mixing up the three types of verbs usually won’t result in other speakers not being able to understand what you’re saying. However, getting them right will sometimes help to avoid confusion or ambiguity and really helps your verb game to shine!

The distinction between these three types of verbs boils down to differences in their conjugation patterns. Conjugation is the process of changing the form of a verb to indicate information such as person, number, or tense. Whether a verb is strong, weak, or mixed depends on two factors:

1. Does the stem stay the same in all the verb forms?

2. Are the endings always regular?

See how verbs in each category answer the two questions above!

Can you see why we label these types of verbs “regular” and “irregular” the way we do?

• Weak verbs are called “regular” verbs because their forms are always predictable.

• Strong verbs are called “irregular” because both their stem and their endings are unpredictable.

• You’ll sometimes hear mixed verbs called “irregular regular verbs” because, while their stem may sometimes change, they still take the same endings as the weak, or “regular” verbs.

Let’s look now at how to tell whether a given verb is strong, weak, or irregular.

As we saw above, the basic difference between the conjugations of weak, strong, and mixed verbs are captured by the statements below:

• weak verbs are regular

• strong verbs have stem changes and irregular endings

• mixed verbs have stem changes, but use regular endings

In this section, we’ll look at each category a little more closely.

A few very frequent verbs such as sein (meaning to be), haben (meaning to have), werden (meaning to become), and the modal verbs are so irregular that it’s not really helpful to call them “strong” or “weak.” This can be because they take totally unexpected endings, or have more significant changes to their stems when being conjugated.

For example, look at the present tense conjugations of these verbs. Do you notice all the irregularities and stem changes?

The best way to learn these verbs is through memorization. You can find the conjugations of the modal verbs in our post on German modal verbs, and you can learn the conjugations of haben and sein from our post on haben vs. sein!

With some practice, you will be able to memorize the many forms of the strong and mixed verbs. Remember these major points:

• Weak verbs are regular verbs in German.

  • Their stem vowel doesn’t change

  • the past tense is formed, [stem]-te

  • the past participle is formed, ge-[stem]-t

• Strong verbs are irregular verbs in German.

  • Their stem vowel changes between the different principal parts

  • The past tense has no ending

  • the past participle is formed, ge-[stem]-en

• Mixed Verbs are irregular weak verbs.

  • Their stem vowel changes (irregular)

  • the past tense is formed, [stem]-te (regular)

  • the past participle is formed, ge-[stem]-t (regular)

• Some verbs may have two acceptable conjugations, depending on which category you put the verb in. Usually, though, one conjugation will be more common in day-to-day speech.

• Modal verbs and some of the most frequently used verbs have more irregular conjugations. Though we can technically categorize them as “strong” or “weak” it’s more helpful to just memorize their conjugations.

Want to study? Check out this list of the most common weak, strong, and mixed verbs, then try out our weak vs. strong verb activities to help take your German skills to the next level!

By understanding the differences between weak, strong, and mixed verbs, you are well on your way to mastering the German language and speaking like a native!