Verbs

der Vokalwechsel / der Ablaut

In English: vowel change

A change of the stem vowel. In the present, some verbs change it only for du and er/sie/es (e to i or ie, a to ä): this is the Vokalwechsel. In the past forms of strong verbs the change is called Ablaut, as in English drink, drank, drunk.

Example: Ich fahre, du fährst. Trinken, trank, getrunken.

Related lessons

• The present tense of stem-changing verbs: fahren, sehen, nehmen (A1)
• The Präteritum of regular and irregular verbs (B1)

See also

das unregelmäßige (starke) Verb der Verbstamm das gemischte Verb