Editing Plautdietsch (section)

====Weak verbs====
The basic conjugation pattern is as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! -
! 1st sing
! 2nd sing
! 3rd sing
! plural
|-
| present
| stem
| stem + st
| stem + t
| infinitive*
|-
| past
| stem + d
| stem + sd
| stem + d
| stem + den
|-
| imperative
| -
| stem
| -
| stem + t
|}

To determine the stem, take the infinitive and drop the -en ending. There are a few modifications to this basic pattern: 1) If the stem ends with a [[plosive]] or [[fricative]] [[voiced consonant]] (d, g, j, soft s, w, zh), that consonant is [[Consonant voicing and devoicing|devoiced]] in the 2nd and 3d persons of the present, since voiceless t and st automatically force the preceding consonant (compare the sound of the letter d in English lived and liked). 2) If the stem ends with a [[voiceless consonant]] (ch, f, jch, k, kj, p, hard s, sch, t) that consonant devoices the d, sd, d, den endings of the past tense (into t, st, t, ten) for the same reason. 3) If the stem ends with two consonants, the second one being a [[nasal stop|nasal]] or [[Lateral consonant|lateral]], a [[schwa]] e is inserted to ease pronunciation. 4) Verbs with a [[diphthong]] and r have a special treatment; the r is dropped before endings are attached, and the st/sd of the second person is replaced by scht/zhd.

Examples of a regular verbs: '''spälen''' (to play), '''lachen''' (to laugh), '''läwen''' (to live), '''odmen''' (to breathe) and '''roaren''' (to cry). The first one follows strictly the basic pattern, the others show the various adjustments needed as described above.

If the inverted word order is used, the '''-en''' ending of the plural '''wie''', '''jie''' (but not '''see''') form is dropped, and a root-only form, identical to the 1st person singular, is used.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! ekj
! du
! hee, see, daut
! wie, jie, see
! ____ wie, jie
|-
! colspan="6" | spälen, to play
|-
| present
| späl
| spälst
| spält
| spälen
| späl
|-
| past
| späld
| spälsd
| späld
| spälden
| späld
|-
| imperative
| -
| späl (du)
| -
| spält (jie)
|-
! colspan="6" | lachen, to laugh
|-
| present
| lach
| lachst
| lacht
| lachen
| lach
|-
| past
| lacht
| lachst
| lacht
| lachten
| lacht
|-
| imperative
| -
| lach (du)
| -
| lacht (jie)
|-
! colspan="6" |läwen, to live
|-
| present
| läw
| läfst
| läft
| läwen
| läw
|-
| past
| läwd
| läwsd
| läwd
| läwden
| läwd
|-
| imperative
| -
| läw (du)
| -
| läft (jie)
|-
! colspan="6" | odmen, to breathe
|-
| present
| odem
| odemst
| odemt
| odmen
| odem
|-
| past
| odemd
| odemsd
| odemd
| odemden
| odemd
|-
| imperative
| -
| odem (du)
| -
| odemt (jie)
|-

! colspan="6" | roaren, to cry
|-
| present
| roa
| roascht
| roat
| roaren
| roa
|-
| past
| road
| roazhd
| road
| roaden
| road
|-
| imperative
| -
| roa (du)
| -
| roat (jie)
|}