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Probably the best way to learn the Präteritum is to learn them
together with the Infinitiv and the Partizip II.
There is a certain rhythm about it. So reciting them will really help as the the
rhythm will is a useful aid to recall. It is just like when you learned the
irregular verbs in English. Do you remember sing
- sang - sung or do
- did - done.
Similarly, learn them as
trinken -- trank -- getrunken
essen -- ass -- gegessen
gehen -- ging -- gegangen
The following are some common patterns of change. It may help to know the patterns too. However not all verbs change according to these patterns. There are quite a number of exceptions. See the section on other irregular verbs below.
Look at the following groups of Präteritum. How does the Stamm change for each group of verbs? Click to see if you are right.
Group I| fliegen | ==> flog |
| schließen | ==> schloss |
| anbieten | ==> bot an |
| verlieren | ==> verlor |
Group II
| finden | ==> fand |
| singen | ==> sang |
| springen | ==> sprang |
| verschwinden | ==> verschwand |
Group III
| bleiben | ==> blieb |
| schreiben | ==> schrieb |
| einsteigen | ==> stieg ein |
Group IV
| sprechen | ==> sprach |
| helfen | ==> half |
| mitnehmen | ==> nahm mit |
| geben | ==> gab |
| essen | ==> aß |
Group V
| beginnen | ==> begann |
| schwimmen | ==> schwamm |
| gewinnen | ==> gewann |
Group VI
| fahren | ==> fuhr |
| tragen | ==> trug |
| schlagen | ==> schlug |
| einladen | ==> lud ein |
Other Irregular Verbs
There are however many irregular verbs that do not fit into these six patterns. And sometimes, more than the vowel may change. In the following are some of the most common ones:
| sein | ==> war |
| kommen | ==> kam |
| gehen | ==> ging |
| sitzen | ==> saß |
| verstehen | ==> verstand |