Lesson 29: Regular Verbs with er, sie, es

In this lesson, you’ll learn how regular verbs change with er, sie, and es. These words mean he, she, and it.

What you’ll learn

• how to use er, sie, and es
• how regular verbs change with er, sie, es
• when to use the -t ending
• when to use the -et ending
• how to make simple sentences about other people or things

The pronouns er, sie, es

You already know that German uses pronouns instead of repeating names all the time.

er = he
sie = she
es = it

Examples:

Ben → er
Anna → sie
das Kind → es

So instead of saying:

Ben lernt Deutsch.

You can say:

Er lernt Deutsch.

The regular verb pattern

With er, sie, and es, many regular verbs end in -t.

The pattern is:

verb ending -en → remove -en → add -t

Examples:

lernen → er lernt
wohnen → sie wohnt
kochen → er kocht
spielen → es spielt

This is the main pattern for this lesson.

Verb table: regular verbs with er, sie, es

The -et ending

Some verbs use -et instead of -t.

This usually happens when the verb stem ends in -t or -d.

Examples:

arbeiten → er arbeitet
reden → sie redet

The extra e makes the word easier to say.

So remember:

• many verbs use -t
• some verbs use -et

Verb table: -t and -et endings

Simple sentences with er, sie, es

Now you can build short sentences about other people or things.

Er lernt Deutsch. = He learns German.
Sie wohnt in Berlin. = She lives in Berlin.
Er kocht am Abend. = He cooks in the evening.
Es spielt im Park. = It plays in the park.
Sie arbeitet am Montag. = She works on Monday.

Exercise: Fill in the Blank