Learning German "Give and Take" - "Geben, Nehmen"

Explore how to express in German the concepts of giving (geben) and taking (nehmen). This involves the grammatical elements known as the accusative case (the direct object case in German), irregular stem-changing verbs and the command forms (imperative). If that sort of grammar terminology scares you, don't worry. We'll introduce it all in such a way that you'll hardly feel a thing.

The important thing is that after studying this lesson, you'll be able to express the important and useful concepts of giving and taking.

Give and Take - The Accusative Case

geben - nehmen​

geben (give)/es gibt (there is/are)

nehmen (take)/er nimmt (he takes)

These two German verbs have something in common. See if you can find what it is by observing the following:

Read More

How to Conjugate the German Verb Nehmen (to Take)

By Hyde Flippo

geben
ich gebe (I give), du gibst (you give)
er gibt (he gives), sie gibt (she gives)
wir geben (we give), sie geben (they give)
nehmen
ich nehme (I take), du nimmst (you take)
er nimmt (he takes), sie nimmt (she takes)
wir nehmen (we take), sie nehmen (they take)

Now can you tell what essential change these two verbs have in common?

If you said that they both change from e to i in the same situations, then you're right! (The verb nehmen also changes its spelling slightly, but the e-to-i change is what these two verbs have in common.) Both of these verbs belong to a class of German verbs known as "stem-changing" verbs. In the infinitive form (ending in -en) they have an e in their stem, or base form. But when they are conjugated (used with a pronoun or noun in a sentence), the stem vowel changes under certain conditions from e to i: nehmen (infinitive) --> er nimmt (conjugated, 3rd person sing.);geben (infinitive) --> er gibt (conjugated, 3rd person sing).

Stem-Changing Verbs

All stem-changing verbs only change their stem vowel in the singular. Most only change when used with er, sie, es (3rd person) and du (2nd person, familiar). Other e-to-i stem-changing verbs include: helfen/hilft (help), treffen/trifft (meet) and sprechen/spricht (speak).

Now study the chart below. It shows all the forms of the two verbs in the present tense — in ​English and German. In the example sentences, observe also how direct objects (the things you give or take) that are masculine (der) change to den or einen when they function as direct objects (rather than the subject). In the accusative (direct object) case, der is the only gender that has this change. Neuter (das), feminine (die) and plural nouns are unaffected.

The STEM-CHANGING Verbs
geben - nehmen

The words me, us, them (mir, uns, ihnen) and so on in the sentences with geben are indirect objects in the dative case. You will learn more about the dative in a future lesson. For now, just learn these words as vocabulary.

Imperative Verbs

By their nature, these two verbs are often used in the imperative (command) form. Below you'll find how to say things like "Give me the pen!" or "Take the money!" If you are talking to one person, the command will be different than if you are addressing two or more people. Note that German makes a distinction between a formal Sie (sing. & pl.) command and a familiar du (sing.) or ihr (pl.) command. If you tell a child to give you something, the command won't be the same as when you are addressing an adult formally (Sie). If you are telling more than one child (ihr) to do something, that will also be a different command than if you are only addressing one child (du). The du command form of most verbs is almost always the normal du form of the verb minus the -st ending. (Du nimmst das Buch. - Nimm das Buch!) Study the chart below.

The German imperative verb forms vary according to whom you are commanding or telling to do something. Each form of YOU in German (du, ihr, Sie) has its own command form. Note that only the Sie command includes the pronoun in the command! The du and ihr commands do not usually include du or ihr.