How to Conjugate the German Verb Trinken (to Drink)

The verb trinken is a strong (irregular) verb meaning to drink. It is a very handy verb to know for traveling to German-speaking countries, or even just singing German drinking songs. As an irregular verb, you cant predict how it is conjugated by a strict rule. You will need to study and memorize its forms. Note that its German principal parts follow the same i/a/u pattern of English (drink/drank/drunk). This is the ablaut Class 3a i - a - u pattern. It is shared with other strong verbs  including binden (tie), dringen  (press), finden (find) and singen (sing). Principal Parts: trinken †¢ trank †¢ getrunkenImperative (Commands): (du) Trink! | (ihr) Trinkt! | Trinken Sie! Trinken -   Present Tense -  Prà ¤sens Deutsch English Singular Present Tense ich trinke I drinkI am drinking du trinkst you drinkyou are drinking er trinkt sie trinkt es trinkt he drinkshe is drinkingshe drinksshe is drinkingit drinksit is drinking Plural Present Tense wir trinken we drinkwe are drinking ihr trinkt you (guys) drinkyou (guys) are drinking sie trinken they drinkthey are drinking Sie trinken you drinkyou are drinking Examples: Er trinkt kein Bier. He doesnt drink beer.Ich trinke lieber Wein. I prefer to drink wine. Trinken -  Simple Past Tense -  Imperfekt Deutsch English Singular Simple Past Tense ich trank I drank du trankst you drank er tranksie trankes trank he drankshe drankit drank Plural Simple Past Tense wir tranken we drank ihr trankt you (guys) drank sie tranken they drank Sie tranken you drank Trinken -  Compound Past Tense (Present Perfect) -  Perfekt Deutsch English Singular Compound Past Tense ich habe getrunken I have drunkI drank du hast getrunken you have drunkyou drank er hat getrunken sie hat getrunken es hat getrunken he has drunkhe drankshe has drunkshe drankit has drunkit drank Plural Compound Past Tense wir haben getrunken we have drunkwe drank ihr habt getrunken you (guys) have drunkyou drank sie haben getrunken they have drunkthey drank Sie haben getrunken you have drunkyou drank Trinken -  Past Perfect Tense -  Plusquamperfekt Deutsch English Singular Past Perfect Tense ich hatte getrunken I had drunk du hattest getrunken you had drunk er hatte getrunkensie hatte getrunkenes hatte getrunken he had drunkshe had drunkit had drunk Plural Past Perfect Tense wir hatten getrunken we had drunk ihr hattet getrunken you (guys) had drunk sie hatten getrunken they had drunk Sie hatten getrunken you had drunk Example Using Trinken Accusative:  Was will  er  trinken?  What does he want to drink? Uses of the Root for Nouns Knowing the different tenses of trinken, you can recognize how it is used in nouns for beverages. Getrà ¤nke: beverages or drinksdas Getrà ¤nk beverage, drinkder Getrà ¤nkemarkt: beverage shop. Here you buy beverages such as beer, cola, or mineral water by the case. Supermarkets now usually have a similar department.