verb
to eat
A1
'to eat'. Strong irregular verb (essen) meaning to eat. Uses auxiliary haben for perfect; past stem 'aß', participle 'gegessen'. Present stem change e→i (ich esse, du/er isst). Imperative irregular: du 'iss', ihr 'esst'. Non‑reflexive; common transitive/intransitive verb in everyday contexts.
Examples
Wir essen um halb acht zu Abend.
We eat dinner at 7:30.
Die Familie aß im Garten, obwohl das Wetter kühl war.
The family ate in the garden although the weather was cool.
Er hat eine Pizza gegessen.
He ate a pizza.
Details
Mnemonics
Picture someone eating at a table with the label 'essen'
Sounds like English 'essen' but think of 'eat' — short and common
n/a
Notes
Konjunktiv I passive in Präteritum is not used/rare for this verb; those slots are marked 'not applicable'.