grundverb

Grundverb is a term used in German linguistics to denote the base form or lemma of a verb—the canonical dictionary form from which inflected forms are derived. In many grammars the Grundverb corresponds to the infinitive (for example gehen, essen, schreiben), but the concept emphasizes the underlying lexeme rather than the finite or participial forms that result from conjugation.

In descriptions of German tense and aspect, the Grundverb is the core lexical verb within a predicate, while auxiliary or modal verbs provide tense, mood, or aspect. For example in the sentence Ich habe gegessen, the Grundverb is essen; gegessen is the past participle and habe is the auxiliary. Thus the Grundverb represents the essential meaning of the verb, whereas auxiliaries and participles carry grammatical information.

The term is used variably across grammars and dictionaries. In some frameworks the Grundverb is treated as identical to the infinitive, while in others it is a distinct notion used in morphological or computational analyses to identify the verb’s lexeme. The concept helps distinguish the semantic core of a verb from its grammatical inflection and from function words that accompany it.

See also: Infinitive, Lemma, Vollverb, Hilfsverb, Modalverb, Verb conjugation.