German irregular verbs with vowel change "a / au" ➔ "ä / äu"
After starting your German journey, meeting irregular verbs in the present tense usually takes a little time. This article discusses everything about verbs changing from “a” to “ä.”
German irregular verbs in the present tense
In German, some verbs show a significant irregularity in the present tense. Most of the affected verbs are words you will have to use regularly; hence, it is crucial to internalize them.
The four groups of German irregular verbs in the present tense are:
a ➔ ä
au ➔ äu
e ➔ i
e ➔ ie
In the following, we will discuss the first and the second group.
Recommended study materials on the topic:
A-Grammar: Practice German grammar German (incl. answers)
German self-study book for A1-B1 (incl. answers)
German beers training book (incl. answers)
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What happens with an irregular verb?
German irregular verbs with a vowel change in the present tense all follow the same rules. The affected letters are always the vowels in the verb stem (infinitive: fahren ➔ verb stem = fahr_). Also, the shift is only for the second and third persons singular (du, er, sie, and es).
For example:
ich fahre
du fährst
er fährt
sie fährt
es fährt
–
wir fahren
ihr fahrt
sie fahren
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Other verbs that include irregular verbs
If you have an irregular verb inside a verb with a separable or non-separable prefix, it will always stay irregular.
For example:
raten (to guess). = ich rate – du rätst
beraten (to consult) = ich berate – du berätst
Irregular verbs in other times
Concerning irregular verbs, you can be sure that if a verb is already performing a vowel shift in the present tense, it is most certainly also an irregular verb for past tenses like Perfekt.
fahren: er fährt – er fuhr – er ist gefahren
List of German irregular verbs a ➔ ä
backen (to bake) ➔ er bäckt
blasen (to blow) ➔ er bläst
braten (to roast) ➔ er brät
fahren (to drive, go by) ➔ er fährt
fallen (to fall) ➔ er fällt
fangen (to catch) ➔ er fängt
graben (to dig) ➔ er gräbt
geraten (to fall into) ➔ er gerät
halten (to hold) ➔ er hält
laden (to load) ➔ er lädt
lassen (to let) ➔ er lässt
raten (to guess) ➔ er rät
schlafen (to sleep) ➔ er schläft
schlagen (to hit) ➔ er schlägt
tragen (to carry, wear) ➔ er trägt
wachsen (to grow) ➔ er wächst
waschen (to wash) ➔ er wäscht
List of German irregular verbs au ➔ äu
laufen (to run) ➔ er läuft
saufen (to drink for animals, to booze) ➔ er säuft
Irregular verbs
After reading this article, I hope you finally understand how to use this group of verbs which you should internalize because you will need to use them frequently. If you want to know more about verbs, check out how to conjugate German verbs.
Bis bald!
Steffie
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