The German Infinitive -
The German Infinitive form of a verb is the verb in its most basic form. It is the base form of the verb. In English, infinitives begin with the word “to.” In German they most often end with the letters “-en” and sometimes end in just “-n.”
|
| In English | In German |
|---|---|
| to avoid | meiden |
| to scream | schreien |
| to smell | riechen |
The Infinitive form of the verb changes when the verb changes tenses. When the Infinitive changes to the past tense (Imperfekt), past participle, or 3rd person singular present tense, the verbs keep only the stems of the infinitive. Learning the Infinitive forms of German verbs is important because the stems are mostly consistent when conjugating to other tenses.
Look below to see how the infinitive stem is used in other tenses:
The Infinitive stem of German verbs and how it changes:
| English | German Infinitive | 3rd Person Singular Past Tense | Past Participle | 3rd Person Singular Present |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| to rub | reiben | rieb | gerieben | reibt |
| to push | schieben | schob | geschoben | schiebt |
| to bind | binden | band | gebunden | bindet |
| to forget | vergessen | vergass | vergessen | vergisst |
Notice above how some of the vowels change when the verb is conjugated into different tenses. You will learn about this in a later lesson.
Except for the verb “sein” (to be), the verbs conjugated with wir (we), sie (they) and Sie (you - formal) take the infinitive form.
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by Melissa Fiala