וואַקסן

This category applies to most Yiddish verbs, that do not fall into other specific categories.

Present Tense

In the present tense, simple verbs are conjugated by adding specific endings to the verb stem based on the subject pronoun. To get the verb stem, the ending (normally ן) is removed from the infinitive.

Pronoun	Meaning	Ending	Example
איך	I	־	רעדן ← רעד
דו	you (singular)	סט	רעדן ← רעדסט
ער/זי/עס	he/she/it	ט	רעדן ← רעדט
מיר	we	ן	רעדן ← רעדן
איר	you (plural)	ט	רעדן ← רעדט
זיי	they	ן	רעדן ← רעדן

Past Tense

The past tense for periphrastic, simple, separable-prefix, and reflexive verbs is formed in a similar manner and follows the same rules.

The past tense is formed using the auxiliary verb האָבן (to have) or זיין (to be) followed by the past participle of the main verb.

In most cases, האָבן is used, but זיין is used with verbs that indicate motion or change of state.

The past participle is often formed by adding גע־ at the beginning and ־ט at the end of the verb stem, though there are many exceptions; in general the past participle needs to memorised.

Pronoun	Formation	Example
איך	האָב + past participle	איך האָב גערעדט
דו	האָסט + past participle	דו האָסט גערעדט
ער/זי/עס	האָט + past participle	ער האָט גערעדט
מיר	האָבן + past participle	מיר האָבן גערעדט
איר	האָט + past participle	איר האָט גערעדט
זיי	האָבן + past participle	זיי האָבן גערעדט

Future Tense

The future tense for periphrastic, reflexive, separable-prefix and simple verbs is formed in a similar manner and follows the same rules. It is formed using the auxiliary verb וועלן (will) followed by the infinitive form of the main verb.

Pronoun	Formation	Example
איך	װעל + infinitive	איך וועל רעדן
דו	װעסט + infinitive	דו וועסט רעדן
ער/זי/עס	װעט + infinitive	ער וועט רעדן
מיר	װעלן + infinitive	מיר וועלן רעדן
איר	װעט + infinitive	איר וועט רעדן
זיי	װעלן + infinitive	זיי וועלן רעדן