The imperfect or simple past tense

Weak verbs add the following endings to the stem:

-te, -test, -te, -ten, -tet, -ten

e.g. ich spielte, du spieltest (etc.)

Strong verbs have a change of stem vowel and must be learned. There are no endings added to the stem in the first and third persons singular. The endings are therefore:

-, -st, -, -en, -t, -en

e.g (trinken - to drink) ich trank, du trankst, er trank, wir tranken, ihr trankt, sie tranken