Important Verbs for Food and Drink - Essen

The verb "essen" is called a stem changing verb. The "-e" in the stem "ess-" changes to an "-i" in the "du" (informal, singular you) and the "er, sie es" (he, she, it) forms.

Look at the following:

essen = to eat

ich esse
du isst
er/sie/es/isst
wir essen
ihr esst
sie/Sie essen

Remember when we used gern and nicht gern to discuss what activities we like to do? In this module we'll be using gern/nicht gern with the verbs essen and trinken to indicate what we like and don't like to eat.

Ich trinke gern Apfelsaft.

Use gern with a verb

Lieber = prefer

We are also learning lieber to indicate preference; lieber is added after the verb, following the same pattern as gern/nicht gern. Look at the following examples:

Ich trinke gern Cola, aber ich trinke lieber Orangensaft.
- I like to drink soda, but I prefer to drink juice.
Ich esse gern Fisch, aber ich esse lieber Fleisch.
- I like to eat fish, but I prefer to eat meat.

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