Mixed Irregular Verbs
The Mixed Irregular Verbs
The final group that we will have to consider are the so called mixed verbs. They combine elements of the regular forms (the –te– in Prä-te-ritum and the –t ending of the Partizip II) with elements of the irregular forms (the vowel/stem change). They are easily memorized with help of the hints at the bottom of this text. Here are all forms of the mixed irregular verbs:
Infinitiv | Präteritum | Partizip II | English |
brennen | brann.te | ge.brann.t | to burn |
kennen | kann.te | ge.kann.t | to know* |
nennen | nann.te | ge.nann.t | to name |
rennen | rann.te | ge.rann.t | to run |
bringen | brach.te | ge.brach.t | to bring |
denken | dach.te | ge.dach.t | to think |
wissen | wuss.te | ge.wuss.t | to know* |
Modalverben | |||
dürfen | durf.te | ge.durf.t | to be allowed to |
können | konn.te | ge.konn.t | to be able to |
müssen | muss.te | ge.muss.t | to have to |
möchten | moch.te | ge.woll.t* | would like |
sollen | soll.te | ge.soll.t | should |
wollen | woll.te | ge.woll.t* | to want |
A few hints to memorize these
sollen and wollen are regular in the past tenses.
The first four mixed verbs all contain –ennen.
The first six verbs all change their stem-vowel to a in both past tenses.
Any changes are always identical for Perfekt and Präteritum.
The -ing in bringen seems to be related to the -enk in denken as both change into –ach.
The modal verbs are almost regular. They just lose the Umlaut.
The past of ‘would like’ is the same as the past of ‘to want’ in German.