Languages › German German Verb Conjugations - Trinken - to Drink Present and Past Tenses Share Flipboard Email Print Dan Herrick/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images German Vocabulary History & Culture Pronunciation & Conversation Grammar By Hyde Flippo German Expert Hyde Flippo taught the German language for 28 years at high school and college levels and published several books on the German language and culture. our editorial process Hyde Flippo Updated January 30, 2019 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 can't 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 • getrunken Imperative (Commands): (du) Trink! | (ihr) Trinkt! | Trinken Sie! Trinken - Present Tense - Präsens Deutsch English Singular Present Tense ich trinke I drink I am drinking du trinkst you drink you are drinking er trinktsie trinktes trinkt he drinks he is drinking she drinks she is drinking it drinks it is drinking Plural Present Tense wir trinken we drink we are drinking ihr trinkt you (guys) drink you (guys) are drinking sie trinken they drink they are drinking Sie trinken you drink you are drinking Examples: Er trinkt kein Bier. He doesn't 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 drank she drank it 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 drunk I drank du hast getrunken you have drunk you drank er hat getrunkensie hat getrunkenes hat getrunken he has drunk he drank she has drunk she drank it has drunk it drank Plural Compound Past Tense wir haben getrunken we have drunk we drank ihr habt getrunken you (guys) have drunk you drank sie haben getrunken they have drunk they drank Sie haben getrunken you have drunk you 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 drunk she had drunk it 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. Getränke: beverages or drinks das Getränk beverage, drink der Getränkemarkt: beverage shop. Here you buy beverages such as beer, cola, or mineral water by the case. Supermarkets now usually have a similar department. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Flippo, Hyde. "German Verb Conjugations - Trinken - to Drink." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/german-verb-conjugations-trinken-to-drink-4070836. Flippo, Hyde. (2020, August 27). German Verb Conjugations - Trinken - to Drink. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/german-verb-conjugations-trinken-to-drink-4070836 Flippo, Hyde. "German Verb Conjugations - Trinken - to Drink." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/german-verb-conjugations-trinken-to-drink-4070836 (accessed April 18, 2021). copy citation