As with the other irregular verbs, the participles for mixed verbs need to be memorized. As their name implies, these mixed verbs mix elements of the weak and strong verbs to form their past participles. While they end in –t like weak verbs, they have a stem change like strong verbs.
Mixed Verbs (gemischte Verben)
Another category of verbs that display both strong and weak forms are the “mixed” verbs (gemischte Verben), otherwise known as weak irregular verbs. These verbs have the weak form of the participle (ge + t) along with stem vowel changes found in strong verbs (e.g. e → a, as in kennen → gekannt). The present tense of these verbs is regular in form (exception: “wissen” becomes “weiß”), and the changes only occur in the past tenses.
The most common mixed verbs are: brennen, kennen, rennen, nennen, wissen, denken, and bringen. Their past participles are: gebrannt, gekannt, gerannt, genannt, gewusst, gedacht, and gebracht, respectively.
| Verb | Present Tense (3rd person singular) | Present Perfect (3rd person singular) |
| brennen | brennt | hat gebrannt |
| bringen | bringt | hat gebracht |
| denken | denkt | hat gedacht |
| kennen | kennt | hat gekannt |
| nennen | nennt | hat genannt |
| rennen | rennt | ist gerannt |
| wissen | weiß | hat gewusst |