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Grammar

Verbs

Past Tense

Irregular Forms

The following list shows the forms of the irregular verbs (also called "strong verbs"). With these forms, at least the stem vocal changes.

Audios will follow.

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Form	German	Phonetic Script	English
infinitive	halten	['haltən]	to hold
1. person singular	ich hielt	[ɪç hi:lt]	I held
2. person singular (familiar)	du hieltst	[du: hi:ltst]	you held
3. person singular	er/sie/es hielt	[e:ɐ/zi:/ɛs hi:lt]	he/she/it held
1. person plural	wir hielten	[vi:ə 'hi:ltən]	we held
2. person plural (familiar)	ihr hieltet	[i:ə 'hi:ltət]	you held
3. person plural	sie hielten	[zi: 'hi:ltən]	they held
polite form (singular + plural)	Sie hielten	[zi: 'hi:ltən]	you held
infinitive	hängen 1)	['hɛŋən]	to hang (to be fixed)
1. person singular	ich hing	[ɪç hɪŋ]	I hung
2. person singular (familiar)	du hingst	[du: hɪŋst]	you hung
3. person singular	er/sie/es hing	[e:ɐ/zi:/ɛs hɪŋ]	he/she/it hung
1. person plural	wir hingen	[vi:ə 'hɪŋən]	we hung
2. person plural (familiar)	ihr hingt	[i:ə hɪŋt]	you hung
3. person plural	sie hingen	[zi: 'hɪŋən]	they hung
polite form (singular + plural)	Sie hingen	[zi: 'hɪŋən]	you hung
infinitive	heben	['he:bən]	to lift
1. person singular	ich hob	[ɪç ho:p]	I lifted
2. person singular (familiar)	du hobst	[du: ho:pst]	you lifted
3. person singular	er/sie/es hob	[e:ɐ/zi:/ɛs ho:p]	he/she/it lifted
1. person plural	wir hoben	[vi:ə 'ho:bən]	we lifted
2. person plural (familiar)	ihr hobt	[i:ə ho:pt]	you lifted
3. person plural	sie hoben	[zi: 'ho:bən]	they lifted
polite form (singular + plural)	Sie hoben	[zi: 'ho:bən]	you lifted
infinitive	heißen	['haisən]	to be called
1. person singular	ich hieß	[ɪç hi:s]	I was called
2. person singular (familiar)	du hießest/hießt	[du: 'hi:səst/hi:st]	you were called
3. person singular	er/sie/es hieß	[e:ɐ/zi:/ɛs hi:s]	he/she/it was called
1. person plural	wir hießen	[vi:ə 'hi:sən]	we were called
2. person plural (familiar)	ihr hießt	[i:ə hi:st]	you were called
3. person plural	sie hießen	[zi: 'hi:sən]	they were called
polite form (singular + plural)	Sie hießen	[zi: 'hi:sən]	you were called
infinitive	helfen	['hɛlfən]	to help
1. person singular	ich half	[ɪç half]	I helped
2. person singular (familiar)	du halfst	[du: halfst]	you helped
3. person singular	er/sie/es half	[e:ɐ/zi:/ɛs half]	he/she/it helped
1. person plural	wir halfen	[vi:ə 'halfən]	we helped
2. person plural (familiar)	ihr halft	[i:ə halft]	you helped
3. person plural	sie halfen	[zi: 'halfən]	they helped
polite form (singular + plural)	Sie halfen	[zi: 'halfən]	you helped
infinitive	kennen	['kɛnən]	to know (be familiar)
1. person singular	ich kannte	[ɪç 'kante]	I knew
2. person singular (familiar)	du kanntest	[du: 'kantəst]	you knew
3. person singular	er/sie/es kannte	[e:ɐ/zi:/ɛs 'kantə]	he/she/it knew
1. person plural	wir kannten	[vi:ə 'kantən]	we knew
2. person plural (familiar)	ihr kanntet	[i:ə 'kantət]	you knew
3. person plural	sie kannten	[zi: 'kantən]	they knew
polite form (singular + plural)	Sie kannten	[zi: 'kantən]	you knew
infinitive	kiesen (obsolete)	['ki:zən]	to choose/select
1. person singular	ich kor	[ɪç ko:ɐ]	I chose
2. person singular (familiar)	du korest/korst	[du: ko:rəst/ko:ɐst]	you chose
3. person singular	er/sie/es kor	[e:ɐ/zi:/ɛs ko:ɐ]	he/she/it chose
1. person plural	wir koren	[vi:ə 'ko:rən]	we chose
2. person plural (familiar)	ihr kort	[i:ə ko:ɐt]	you chose
3. person plural	sie koren	[zi: 'ko:rən]	they chose
polite form (singular + plural)	Sie koren	[zi: 'ko:rən]	you chose
infinitive	klimmen	['klɪmən]	to clamber/scramble
1. person singular	ich klomm	[ɪç klɔm]	I clambered
2. person singular (familiar)	du klommst	[du: klɔmst]	you clambered
3. person singular	er/sie/es klomm	[e:ɐ/zi:/ɛs klɔm]	he/she/it clambered
1. person plural	wir klommen	[vi:ə 'klɔmən]	we clambered
2. person plural (familiar)	ihr klommt	[i:ə klɔmt]	you clambered
3. person plural	sie klommen	[zi: 'klɔmən]	they clambered
polite form (singular + plural)	Sie klommen	[zi: 'klɔmən]	you clambered
infinitive	klingen	['klɪŋən]	to sound
1. person singular	ich klang	[ɪç klaŋ]	I sounded
2. person singular (familiar)	du klangst	[du: klaŋst]	you sounded
3. person singular	er/sie/es klang	[e:ɐ/zi:/ɛs klaŋ]	he/she/it sounded
1. person plural	wir klangen	[vi:ə 'klaŋən]	we sounded
2. person plural (familiar)	ihr klangt	[i:ə klaŋt]	you sounded
3. person plural	sie klangen	[zi: 'klaŋən]	they sounded
polite form (singular + plural)	Sie klangen	[zi: 'klaŋən]	you sounded
infinitive	kneifen	['knaifən]	to pinch
1. person singular	ich kniff	[ɪç knɪf]	I pinched
2. person singular (familiar)	du kniffst	[du: knɪfst]	you pinched
3. person singular	er/sie/es kniff	[e:ɐ/zi:/ɛs knɪf]	he/she/it pinched
1. person plural	wir kniffen	[vi:ə 'knɪfən]	we pinched
2. person plural (familiar)	ihr knifft	[i:ə knɪft]	you pinched
3. person plural	sie kniffen	[zi: 'knɪfən]	they pinched
polite form (singular + plural)	Sie kniffen	[zi: 'knɪfən]	you pinched

SUPPLEMENT
1) hängen in the sense of to hang up someone/something has a regular conjugation
infinitive	hängen	['hɛŋən]	to hang
1. person singular	ich hängte	[ɪç 'hɛŋtə]	I hanged
2. person singular (familiar)	du hängtest	[du: 'hɛŋtəst]	you hanged
3. person singular	er/sie/es hängte	[e:ɐ/zi:/ɛs 'hɛŋtə]	he/she/it hanged
1. person plural	wir hängten	[vi:ə 'hɛŋtən]	we hanged
2. person plural (familiar)	ihr hängtet	[i:ə 'hɛŋtət]	you hanged
3. person plural	sie hängten	[zi: 'hɛŋtən]	they hanged
polite form (singular + plural)	Sie hängten	[zi: 'hɛŋtən]	you hanged
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