Common German Verbs
German verbs are listed here in the infinitive, the form you find in a dictionary. Almost all of them end in -en.
The two you cannot avoid
-
sein
zyne
-
to be
ich bin, du bist, er ist
-
haben
HAH-ben
-
to have
ich habe, du hast, er hat
Everyday actions
-
gehen
GAY-en
-
to go
-
kommen
KOM-men
-
to come
-
machen
MAKH-en
-
to do, to make
One verb covers both
-
sagen
ZAH-gen
-
to say
-
sehen
ZAY-en
-
to see
-
sprechen
SHPRE-khen
-
to speak
-
essen
ES-sen
-
to eat
-
trinken
TRIN-ken
-
to drink
-
arbeiten
AR-by-ten
-
to work
-
wohnen
VOH-nen
-
to live somewhere
-
heißen
HY-sen
-
to be called
Used where English says my name is
Verbs that pair with another verb
-
können
KURN-nen
-
can, to be able to
-
wollen
VOL-len
-
to want to
-
müssen
MUUS-sen
-
must, to have to
-
möchten
MURKH-ten
-
would like
The polite way to order or ask for something
-
wissen
VIS-sen
-
to know a fact
kennen is to know a person or place
The endings for a regular verb
Take off the -en and add the ending for the person. For machen: ich mache, du machst, er macht, wir machen, ihr macht, sie machen.
Sein and haben do not follow this and have to be memorised, which is why they are listed first.
When a verb like können or wollen appears, the second verb moves to the end of the sentence: Ich kann Deutsch sprechen, literally I can German speak.
- Ich wohne in Berlin.I live in Berlin.
- Ich möchte einen Kaffee.I would like a coffee.
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