When you look up an English verb in a dictionary to check what its German equivalent is, you will find the so-called infinitive, i.e. the basic form of the verb.

Nearly all German infinitives end in -en, e.g.

to live -> wohnen

to drink -> trinken

to learn -> lernen

to come -> kommen

to sing -> singen

Once you use the verb in a sentence, you have to make sure that the ending of the verb corresponds to the subject (= who or what is performing the action expressed by the verb) of the sentence.

In order to do this, you take the -en off the infinitive and add the ending which is required in each case, e.g.

Note:

Phrases like "mein Freund" (my [male] friend) or a name e.g. "Patrick" can be replaced by "he", therefore the corresponding verb must end in -t, e.g.

Mein Freund wohnt in Berlin.

Patrick trinkt Kaffee.

Phrases like "meine Freundin" (my [female] friend) or a name e.g. "Patricia" can be replaced by "she", therefore the corresponding verb must end in -t, e.g.

Meine Freundin wohnt in Berlin.

Patricia trinkt Kaffee.