I. Theory
Strong verbs are irregular German verbs and thus, the past participles of strong verbs are formed differently than other “weak” verbs. All strong verbs take an -en ending, rather than -t. Additionally, most strong verbs undergo a vowel change (ei>ie , e>o, etc.). Lastly, most strong verbs retain the ge- prefix in this past form like most other verbs.Hast du schon den Aufsatz geschrieben? (schreiben: ei>ie) Have you already written the essay? Ich habe heute nicht mit ihm gesprochen. (sprechen: e>o) I haven’t spoken with him today. |
Note: In both of these examples, we see that in the English equivalents as well, the past participle of these verbs (written/spoken) are irregular.