German present tense: how to conjugate verbs

To conjugate a verb means to change its ending so it matches the subject. German is very regular here: take the infinitive (spielen — to play), drop the -en to get the stem (spiel-), and add the ending for the person.

Small spelling adjustments

• •Stem ends in -t or -d (arbeiten, finden): add an extra -e for sound → du arbeitest, er findet.
• •Stem ends in -s, -ß, -z (reisen, heißen, tanzen): the du form drops one s → du reist, du heißt, du tanzt.

Vowel-changing (stem-changing) verbs

A group of common verbs change their stem vowel in the du and er/sie/es forms only. You simply have to learn which ones — but the change is predictable within each verb.

• fahren → du fährst, er fährt

  to drive

  a → ä

• essen → du isst, er isst

  to eat

  e → i

• sehen → du siehst, er sieht

  to see

  e → ie

• ✗Er spielen Fußball.

  ✓Er spielt Fußball.

  er takes the -t ending, not -en.

• ✗Du esst gern Pizza.

  ✓Du isst gern Pizza.

  essen changes e → i in the du form and drops one s.