1. “strong verbs” (verbs ending in “-en” in the past participle: sehen: ich habe gesehen = I have seen)
2. “weak verbs” (verbs ending in “-t” in the past participle: sagen: ich have gesagt = I have said)
3. “mixed verbs” (verb with a stem change and that end in “-t” in the past participle: kennen: ich habe gekannt = I have known / met)

There are more complex verb endings than the ones I’ve listed, which aren’t easily explained in a 3-point list. Instead of trying to decrypt every verb as strong, weak or mixed, what has worked for me is to focus on what some verbs have in common (amongst themselves and in relation to English).

So here you will find a list of verbs that have particular characteristics in common. Within each table there are differences, notably where verbs that follow the pattern of each section, but that have the added detail of being a stem-changing verb. I’ve marked these with an asterisk (*).

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Sein versus haben as auxiliary

Before we dig into the patterns of past participles, you’ve likely noticed that some verbs use sein as the auxiliary/helping verb in the present perfect, though most use haben. There are various reasons for this, relating to when a verb expresses movement or a change of state.

At this stage, don’t worry too much about the why though; just memorise the most common verbs that take sein and gradually add verbs to the list as you come across them:

Verbs that use sein as the auxiliary verb:
kommen –> Wann bist du gestern nach Hause gekommen?	= when did you get home yesterday?
gehen –> Meine Eltern sind ins Theater gegangen.	= my parents have gone to the theatre.
reisen –> Sie ist viel gereist.	= she has travelled a lot.
fahren –> Wir sind an den See gefahren.	= we drove around the lake.
passieren –> Was ist passiert?	= what happened?
bleiben –> Bist du gestern zu Hause geblieben?	= did you stay at home yesterday?

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Now let’s get conjugating those verbs and form the past participle:

1) Similarities with English:

-en endings

Many past participles that end in -en in English follow the same pattern in German:

I have eaten	Ich habe gegessen (essen)
I have written	Ich habe geschrieben (schreiben)*
I have taken	Ich habe genommen (nehmen)*
I have given	Ich habe gegeben (geben)
I have driven	Ich bin gefahren (fahren)
I have seen	Ich habe gesehen (sehen)

Common exceptions:

I have woken = ich habe aufgewacht (aufwachen)

I have hidden (something) = ich habe versteckt (verstecken)

I have chosen = ich habe ausgewählt (auswählen)

💡 A note on stem-changing verbs: maybe you’re thinking – how do I know when a verb is a stem-changing verb, and how do I know what to change the stem to? If you’re just starting out with German, my advice is: don’t worry about the hows and whys just yet. Just memorise a few at a time, and gradually, a pattern will emerge.

When you are ready to look at this feature in more detail, check out 35 stem-changing verbs in German PDF from German Word of the Day blog.

-d / -t endings

Many past participles that end in -d or -t in English have a -t ending in German, and are also at times highly irregular:

I have thought	Ich habe gedacht (denken)*
I have brought	Ich habe gebracht (bringen)*
I have heard	Ich habe gehört (hören)
I have loved	Ich habe geliebt (lieben)
I have said	Ich habe gesagt (sagen)
I have learnt/learned	Ich habe gelernt (lernen)

Common exceptions:

I have stood –> ich habe gestanden (stehen)

I have helped –> ich habe geholfen (helfen)

I have invited –> ich habe eingeladen (einladen)

2) Verbs that end in -ieren

Verbs that end in -ieren take the “t” ending of regular verbs, but do not take “ge” at the start of the participle:

studieren = to study	hat studiert
passieren = to happen	ist passiert
explodieren = to explode	ist explodiert
sich konzentrieren = to concentrate	hat sich konzentriert
kritisieren = to criticise	hat kritisiert
identifizieren = to identify	hat identifiziert

3) Separable verbs

Separable and inseparable verbs are verbs which have a preposition or prefix whacked on the front.

Separable verbs (called trennbar in German) are verbs that feature a preposition or other small word, which must be separated from the main part of the verb when conjugated. For example, ankommen = to arrive: ich komme morgen an = I arrive tomorrow.

Verbs that include the following prefixes are separable: ab, an, auf, aus, ein, mit, her, vor, zu, zurück.

Such verbs feature a “ge” between the two parts of the verb in the past participle: 

aufwachen = to wake up	hat aufgewacht
einkaufen = to shop/buy	hat eingekauft
ankommen = to arrive	ist angekommen
ausgehen = to go out	ist ausgegangen*
einladen = to invite	hat eingeladen
zuhören = to listen	hat zugehört

4) Inseparable verbs

Verbs that include the following prefixes are inseparable: be, emp, ent, er, ge, hinter, miss, ver, wider, zer.

Inseparable verbs (untrennbar) do not include “ge”:

besuchen = to visit	hat besucht
erleben = to experience	hat erlebt
entdecken = to discover	hat entdeckt
gefallen = to please	hat gefallen
verstehen = to understand	hat verstanden*
empfangen = to receive	hat empfangen

Exception:

The most common exception to the distinction between separable and inseparable prefixes is vorbereiten. Despite featuring the prefix “vor,” which is usually separable, the past participle of vorbereiten is vorbereitet.

Final thoughts

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