"haben" and Irregular Verbs

The verb "haben": to have

After sein, the second most important verb in German is haben (to have). It is only slightly irregular: ich habe, du hast, er/sie/es hat, wir haben, ihr habt, sie/Sie haben. Compare this with a regular verb and you will see that only two forms misbehave: du hast and er hat drop the b that the regular pattern would predict. Everything else follows the endings you already know.

German also uses haben in fixed phrases where English uses "to be": Hunger haben (to be hungry, literally "to have hunger"), Durst haben (to be thirsty) and Zeit haben (to have time). These phrases are extremely common in everyday speech, so learn them as complete chunks.

• Ich habe eine Schwester.

  I have a sister.

• Er hat Hunger.

  He is hungry.

  Literally "He has hunger" — German uses haben here.

• Wir haben Zeit.

  We have time.

• Ihr habt Durst.

  You (plural) are thirsty.

Stem-changing verbs: e becomes i

A small but important group of verbs changes its stem vowel — but only in the du and er/sie/es forms. The endings themselves stay completely regular; it is only the vowel inside the stem that shifts.

The first type changes e to i. The classic examples are sprechen (to speak): ich spreche, du sprichst, er spricht; essen (to eat): ich esse, du isst, er isst; and nehmen (to take), which changes a little more: ich nehme, du nimmst, er nimmt. Note that essen follows the spelling rule you already know from heißen — the stem ends in an s-sound, so the du form is isst, not "issst".

• Ich spreche Englisch.

  I speak English.

• Du sprichst sehr gut Deutsch.

  You speak German very well.

  e changes to i in the du form.

• Das Kind isst Pizza.

  The child is eating pizza.

• Er nimmt ein Taxi.

  He takes a taxi.

  nehmen changes the most: nimmst, nimmt.

e becomes ie, a becomes ä

The second type changes e to the long ie: lesen (to read) gives ich lese, du liest, er liest, and sehen (to see) gives ich sehe, du siehst, er sieht.

The third type adds an umlaut, turning a into ä: fahren (to drive, to go by vehicle) gives ich fahre, du fährst, er fährt, and schlafen (to sleep) gives ich schlafe, du schläfst, er schläft. The verb laufen (to run, to walk) does the same with au: du läufst, er läuft.

There is no rule that tells you in advance which verbs change — you learn them one by one, and dictionaries mark them. The good news: the group is small, and the A1 members of it are almost all in this lesson.

• Sie liest ein Buch.

  She is reading a book.

• Er sieht das Auto.

  He sees the car.

• Du fährst nach Berlin.

  You are going to Berlin.

  a becomes ä in the du and er/sie/es forms.

• Das Baby schläft viel.

  The baby sleeps a lot.

Only two forms ever change

Whatever a stem-changing verb does, it does it in exactly two places: the du form and the er/sie/es form. The ich, wir, ihr and sie/Sie forms always keep the vowel of the infinitive: ich fahre, wir fahren, ihr fahrt, sie fahren — no umlaut anywhere.

This gives you a reliable checking habit. Before you say or write a du or er/sie/es form, ask yourself: is this one of the changing verbs? If yes, adjust the vowel; if no, or if it is any other person, use the plain stem. When you meet a new verb, practise it in a fixed mini-drill — ich lese, du liest, er liest, wir lesen — so the two changed forms and the four unchanged ones settle into place together.

And keep the numbers in perspective: at A1 you only need a handful of these verbs — haben, sprechen, essen, nehmen, lesen, sehen, fahren, schlafen and laufen cover nearly everything. That is nine verbs with two special forms each, roughly twenty forms in total. An evening of practice, and one of the trickiest corners of German present tense is behind you for good.

• Ich fahre nach Hause.

  I am going home.

  The ich form never takes the vowel change.

• Wir essen um sieben Uhr.

  We eat at seven o'clock.

  The wir form keeps the infinitive vowel too.