German conjugation explanation
Past Participle of verbs ending in -ieren
<p>Most German verbs form the
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/54/" target="_blank">Past Participle</a>
(<span style="font-style: italic;">Partizip II</span>) by adding the prefix <span style="font-style: italic;">ge-</span> to the stem. However, weak verbs ending in <strong style="font-style: italic;">-ieren</strong> are a major exception to this rule.</p><p>Verbs ending in <strong style="font-style: italic;">-ieren</strong> are typically regular (weak) verbs of foreign origin (mostly Latin or French). To form the Past Participle, they add the weak ending <strong>-t</strong> to the stem, but they <strong>do not take the prefix ge-</strong>.</p>
<p style="font-style: italic;">studieren → studier<span class="green_emphasis">t</span> (NOT <span class="red_emphasis">ge</span>studiert)</p>
<p>Common verbs that follow this pattern include
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/ger/studieren/" title="Click to see conjugations for studieren" target="_blank">studieren</a>
,<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/ger/diskutieren/" title="Click to see conjugations for diskutieren" target="_blank">diskutieren</a>
,<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/ger/reparieren/" title="Click to see conjugations for reparieren" target="_blank">reparieren</a>
,<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/ger/organisieren/" title="Click to see conjugations for organisieren" target="_blank">organisieren</a>
, and<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/ger/funktionieren/" title="Click to see conjugations for funktionieren" target="_blank">funktionieren</a>
.</p><div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Examples in Context</div>
<ul>
<li>
<div><strong>studieren:</strong> to study</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Er hat in München <span class="green_emphasis">studiert</span>. (<span style="font-style: italic;">He studied in Munich.</span>)</div>
</li>
<li>
<div><strong>reparieren:</strong> to repair</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Hast du das Auto schon <span class="green_emphasis">repariert</span>? (<span style="font-style: italic;">Have you repaired the car yet?</span>)</div>
</li>
<li>
<div><strong>diskutieren:</strong> to discuss</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Wir haben lange über Politik <span class="green_emphasis">diskutiert</span>. (<span style="font-style: italic;">We discussed politics for a long time.</span>)</div>
</li>
<li>
<div><strong>passieren:</strong> to happen</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Ist etwas Schlimmes <span class="green_emphasis">passiert</span>? (<span style="font-style: italic;">Did something bad happen?</span>)</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">Note: Similar to regular verbs, most <span style="font-style: italic;">-ieren</span> verbs use
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/ger/haben/" title="Click to see conjugations for haben" target="_blank">haben</a>
as the auxiliary. However, verbs indicating a change of state or motion, like<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/ger/passieren/" title="Click to see conjugations for passieren" target="_blank">passieren</a>
, use<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/ger/sein/" title="Click to see conjugations for sein" target="_blank">sein</a>
. (See<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/conjugationExplanation/german_auxiliary_verb/" target="_blank">auxiliary verbs</a>
).</div></li>
</ul>
<p>This omission of <span style="font-style: italic;">ge-</span> occurs because the ending <span style="font-style: italic;">-ieren</span> carries the stress on the penultimate syllable (<span style="font-style: italic;">stu-<strong>die</strong>-ren</span>). In German, verbs that are not stressed on the first syllable generally do not take the prefix <span style="font-style: italic;">ge-</span>. This rule is technically the same one that applies to
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/conjugationExplanation/german_inseperable_prefixes/" target="_blank">inseparable prefixes</a>
(like <span style="font-style: italic;">besuchen</span> → <span style="font-style: italic;">besucht</span>).</p><p>In the following tables, you can see how these participles are used in the
<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/52/" target="_blank">Perfect tense</a>
:</p><div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">
<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label tense_box no_dark_mode " href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/52/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Perfekt</a>
<div class="study_conjugations_conjugation conjugations_table two_columns">
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
ich
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">habe studiert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
du
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">hast studiert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
er
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">hat studiert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
wir
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">haben studiert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
ihr
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">habt studiert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
sie
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">haben studiert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">
<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label tense_box no_dark_mode " href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/52/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Perfekt</a>
<div class="study_conjugations_conjugation conjugations_table two_columns">
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
ich
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">habe repariert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
du
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">hast repariert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
er
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">hat repariert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
wir
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">haben repariert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
ihr
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">habt repariert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">
<div class="conjugation_form">
<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">
sie
</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">haben repariert<span class="irregularity_circle">●</span></span></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>