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PRESENT TENSE — IRREGULAR VERBS
The Verbs That Break Their Own Rules
A small, high-frequency group of verbs that change their vowel — only in two forms.
Why this matters: Not every German verb follows the pattern from Lesson 7. A group of very common verbs — sprechen (to speak), essen (to eat), sehen (to see), fahren (to drive) — change their stem vowel, but only in the du and er/sie/es forms. Everything else stays completely regular.
Pattern 1: e → i
sprechen (to speak) — the e in the stem becomes i, but only for du and er/sie/es.
| Pronoun | sprechen | essen |
|---|---|---|
| ich | spreche | esse |
| du | sprichst | isst |
| er / sie / es | spricht | isst |
| wir | sprechen | essen |
| ihr | sprecht | esst |
| sie / Sie | sprechen | essen |
Pattern 2: e → ie
sehen (to see) and lesen (to read) follow the same du/er rule, but the vowel change is different.
| Pronoun | sehen | lesen |
|---|---|---|
| ich | sehe | lese |
| du | siehst | liest |
| er / sie / es | sieht | liest |
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