Was Machst Du?
Now we arrive at the engine of German grammar. The system that powers ~90% of German verbs.
What do you do? Was machst du?
This simple question opens the door to understanding how German verbs actually work. Because unlike the ancient, irregular verbs like sein and haben, most German verbs follow a completely predictable pattern. A pattern so regular, so logical, that once you understand it, you can conjugate any new verb you encounter without memorization.
Here is the pattern:
The Regular Present Tense Pattern (Regular Verb: MACHEN = to make/do)
That's it. That's the entire system. Take the infinitive (machen), remove the -en, and you get the stem (mach-). Then add these endings:
-e (ich) | -st (du) | -t (er/sie/es) | -en (wir) | -t (ihr) | -en (sie/Sie)
That's six endings. Memorize them once, and you conjugate thousands of German verbs.
Compare this to English: "I make, you make, he makes, we make, you make, they make." English adds -s only in third person singular. That's simpler, but German's system is not much more complex. And because German preserves more information in its endings, speakers always know exactly who is being discussed.
The genius of this pattern is that it works for almost all regular verbs. Let's look at ten common verbs:
Here's the comparison that shows German's advantage:
German (SPIELEN):
ich spiele | du spielst | er spielt | wir spielen | ihr spielt | sie spielen
English (PLAY):
I play | you play | he plays | we play | you play | they play
German marks every person and number. English only marks third person singular. German's system gives more information; English's system is simpler. Both work, but German's precision means you always know who is acting.
And here's the crucial insight: Chinese solves this problem by not conjugating at all. 我玩 (wǒ wán) = I play. 你玩 (nǐ wán) = you play. 他玩 (tā wán) = he plays. The verb never changes. The pronoun carries all the information about person and number.
Three different solutions to the same problem. Chinese: no conjugation. English: minimal conjugation. German: full conjugation with regular patterns. Each works. Each has advantages. But German's system reveals the deepest truth: language is organized, patterned, logical.
The power of this pattern is that it frees you from memorization. You don't need to memorize thousands of verb forms. You need to understand one system and apply it to thousands of verbs.
Regular verbs in German are regular forever. Add a new word to the language? If it becomes a verb, it will follow the regular pattern. Create a technical term? Conjugate it using the regular endings. The system is closed and complete.
This is the architecture of grammar: not arbitrary rules to memorize, but logical systems to understand. The three-gender system (from Chapter 47), the two essential verbs sein and haben (from Chapters 48-49), and the regular conjugation pattern (this chapter) form the foundation of German grammar.
Master these, and you have mastered German.
Modern linguistic theory explains regular conjugation through the "stem hypothesis." The infinitive is not the fundamental form of the verb — the stem is. The stem is what remains when you remove the infinitive ending -en. All other forms of the verb are created by attaching endings to this unchanging stem. This explains why German has so many verbs that work the same way: any verb that can be decomposed into stem + ending fits the pattern. Irregular verbs like sein are irregular because they don't have a consistent stem; different forms come from different roots. Understanding stems is the key to mastering German morphology.
(Hint: third person singular adds -t to the stem.)
(Hint: the vast majority.)
Build It Yourself
Type your answer, then click Check to see if you\u2019re right.
Test Your Knowledge of Regular Verbs
Bauwerkstatt
Lesen & Hören — Read and Listen
Verständnisfragen — Comprehension Questions
Diktat — Dictation Exercise
Listen to a sentence and type what you hear. Click the button to hear each sentence once.
Words Gathered in Chapter Fifty
The Six Endings — -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en. Memorize these six, apply them to any regular verb, and you can conjugate perfectly.
90% Coverage — The regular pattern covers nearly all of German. Only a handful of very common, ancient verbs are irregular. This shows what the system looks like when it's not distorted by 6,000 years of history.
Information-Rich — German marks person and number on every verb. English barely marks anything. Chinese marks nothing at all. German's system gives maximum clarity about who is acting.
End of Chapter Fifty
Ten verbs. One system. Infinite possibilities.
The regular present tense pattern is the foundation of modern German grammar.
Where sein shows history, and haben shows structure, the regular verbs show the system itself in pristine form.
You have now learned the architecture of German: gender as logic, fundamental verbs as history, and regular conjugation as system.
Fifty chapters. 464 words. From Proto-Indo-European to Modern German. From ancient roots to living speech.
This is The First Word.