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Regular and Irregular German Verbs: What's the Difference?

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Almost all of the people who sign up for private German lessons have already run into German verbs and their conjugations.


When we get to the Perfekt (the present perfect or spoken past tense), it's always interesting to hear what they think of it so far.


Here are a few of the top questions people have asked me about learning the Perfekt:

  1. Are these regular or irregular verbs?

  2. What's the difference between them?

  3. What's the pattern for these verbs? And for these verbs? And f…

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What are the Two Most Important Past Tense Verbs in German?

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When you first learn German - or first start learning German - you say everything in the present tense. You learn only a little bit of the past tense, mainly the two verbs here, and then later you learn the Perfekt, or the spoken past tense (Ich bin gefahren. Wir haben ein Buch gelesen.).

This is the order you would ideally learn everything in:

Present tense --> these two verbs --> a bunch of the Perfekt

If you learn the past tense in any other order than that, it is out of order.

No excepti…

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Separable Verbs in German: an Exercise

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Here is a short exercise for you to practice two separable verbs in German: einatmen and ausatmen.

You may have noticed these two verbs in a blog post earlier this month, and to help you learn them even better, you'll use them in this exercise.

This may be the most relaxing German separable verbs exercise you'll find on the interwebs.

Here are the instructions in German. Scroll down to the flower to read the instructions in English.


Hier ist ein kurzes Audio für Sie.

Zuerst hören Sie «Ich…

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Lernen Sie trennbare Verben ~ Learn German Separable Verbs

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Today you get to learn separable verbs (trennbare Verben) just like one of my German clients!

This is a technique I've used with dozens of German learners and it makes separable verbs a kinaesthetic exercise--and that in two different ways.

You'll need print out or write out some cards, and to have one supply to have ready when you start the video.

Los geht's!

Step 1: Print out or make these cards of trennbare Verben

Download this PDF of 4x6 cards and print them.

If you can't print them, …

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How to Use Separable Verbs in German

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Separable verbs are not hard to understand, however learning to use them takes practice and time.


For the purposes of this first section, we'll use two separable verbs in the present tense – so we'll use them to talk about now.


Right now.


A separable verb (in German: ein trennbares Verb, plural: trennbare Verben) is a verb that requires you to do three things :

  1. remove the prefix from the verb

  2. conjugate what's left

  3. tack the prefix on to the end of the sentence.

That's…

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Save 5% on the Best German Pretzels in the US

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Meet the Milwaukee Pretzel Company!

They make pretzels--German pretzels!

They make them here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

You can have them shipped to you!

These are the best pretzels I've eaten outside of Germany.

When you visit one of their stands here in Milwaukee you'll likely have a chance to eat their Obatzda, which is a delicious, Bavarian cheese specialty made with camembert, butter, a splash of beer, onion, and paprika. And yes, their Obatzda is also the best Obatzda I've had outside…

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2 German Lozenges for Your Sore Throat

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Plus one immune booster used often in Germany.

Being sick is a drag in any language. Your throat gets scratchy, it hurts, you get all phlegmy...you feel awful, you're tired, and you miss out on work, time with your friends, your family. What a drag.

Now more than ever we've become aware of taking very good care of ourselves when we get sick. Here are a couple of German lozenges you might not have heard of that are excellent to have on hand.

You can order them from the Smallflower.com Apotheca…

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Have German Food Delivered to Your Door

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One of the hardest parts of shopping for authentic German food is actually your location. If you don't live near a city with a German supermarket or your supermarket doesn't carry international products, it can be difficult to shop for them.

Plus there are no surprises when you shop for it all yourself. Why not enjoy a surprise now and then?

What if you could get a box of authentic German products shipped to your door every month and each month it's a surprise? New products, different items, a…

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5 (Not-So) Last-Minute German Gifts

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It's not quite Christmas *yet*, however so many people are planning and buying their Christmas presents early this year that it's really a good idea to start planning for your German Christmas gifts now.

Planning ahead.

That's so German.

Here are 5 gift ideas whether you like to give bath & body products, German food items, or fancy Austrian wine glasses for Christmas.

You can order them all from home and whether you'd like to spend $25 or $250 (or more!), there is something here for you.

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5 A2 German Story Books for German Learners

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Finding interesting story books for A2 German learning doesn't have to be a chore - here you can read the research I've done for you and simply purchase the books and have them delivered.

Some books are available in digital versions, which does save space, however there are distinct advantages to having a physical book, from less screen time to easily writing notes on the page.

The most important part, however, is having reading material that is at your current level of German (these are all A…

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