German · Chapter 10 · Lesson 14 · Grammar primer
Strong verbs: the patterns that repeat
A strong verb is not a random exception but a vowel doing the same trick as English sing, sang, sung.
The short version
Learn every strong verb as three words
The past and the participle do not always share a vowel: sprach but gesprochen, sang but gesungen. Learn the infinitive alone and you will guess the rest wrong. Say all three aloud as one unit, singen, sang, gesungen, and file the verb with others that follow the same pattern.
Er sprach mit mir. Wir haben lange gesprochen.
A prefix never changes a strong verb's vowels
verstehen follows stehen, bekommen follows kommen, versprechen follows sprechen. A verb built on a strong verb takes exactly the same vowel changes, so every strong verb you learn is really several. Only the ge- of the participle is affected by the prefix, never the vowel.
Ich verstand ihn nicht.
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