The present tense in German (Präsens)
- 1 Use of the Present
- 2 Regular Conjugation
- 2.1 Inserting "–e-" between the stem and the ending
- 2.2 Dropping the "–s"
- 2.3 Conjugating verbs ending in "-eln"
- 2.4 Conjugation of verbs ending in "-ern"
- 2.5 The present in colloquial language (Umgangssprache)
- 3 Irregular verbs
- 4 Present Continuous. The particle "gerade"
- 5 The passive
- 6 Audiovisual supplement
Use of the Present
The use of the present in German is almost the same as the present in English. It is used for:
- Talking about events in the present
- Things that are independent of time such as physical laws, etc.
- In German, the present is often used for future actions with a temporal adverbExample:Ich komme morgen
I’ll come tomorrow
Regular Conjugation
For the normal conjugation the verb stem does not change for any of the persons and different endings are added depending on the person.
For example, we show the conjugation of the verb: "leben" (to live) with the different endings in bold:
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich leb-e | I live |
| du leb-st | you live |
| er/sie/es leb-t | he/she/it lives |
| wir leb-en | we live |
| ihr leb-t | you live |
| sie leb-en | they live |
Inserting "–e-" between the stem and the ending
If the verb stem ends in:
- "-d", "-t". as is the case with "bitten" (to ask), "arbeiten" (to work).
- hard consonant (b, ch, d, f, g, p, t) ) followed by "-n" or "-m" as is the case with "eröffnen" (to open something), rechnen (to calculate).
An "–e-" is inserted between the stem and the ending so that pronunciation is easier.
For example, let’s see the conjugation of the verb "arbeiten" in the present:
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich arbeit-e | I work |
| du arbeit-e-st | you work |
| er/sie/es arbeit-e-t | he/she/it works |
| wir arbeit-en | we work |
| ihr arbeit-e-t | you work (speaking to a group) |
| sie arbeit-en | they work |
Dropping the "–s"
Verbs whose stems end in "–s", "-z", "-x" or "-ß" lose an "–s" in the second person.
For example, the verb "sitzen" (to sit) in the second person would have to be "sitzst" but this is impossible to pronounce. That is why it loses an s and ends ups simply as "sitzt".
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich sitze | I sit |
| du sitzt | you sit |
| er/sie/es sitzt | he/she/it sit |
| wir sitzen | we sit |
| ihr sitzt | you sit (speaking to a group) |
| sie sitzen | they sit |
Conjugating verbs ending in "-eln"
Verbs ending in –eln such as klingeln (to ring (the doorbell)) lose an e on occasion in the 1st person singular. You also have to keep in mind that the 1st person and the 3rd person plural are formed with –n and not -en
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich klingle or klingele | I ring |
| du klingelst | you ring |
| er/sie/es klingelt | he/she/it rings |
| wir klingeln | we ring |
| ihr klingelt | you ring (speaking to a group) |
| sie klingeln | they ring |
Conjugation of verbs ending in "-ern"
Verbs ending in "–ern" such as "ändern" (change), like the previous case of verbs ending in "–eln", form the 1st person and the 3rd person plural with "–n" instead of "-en".
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich ändere | I change |
| du änderst | you change |
| er/sie/es ändert | he/she/it changes |
| wir ändern | we change |
| ihr ändert | you change (speaking to a group) |
| sie ändern | they change |
The present in colloquial language (Umgangssprache)
It is very common in spoken language, and sometimes in written language, to remove the e ending of the 1st person singular:
| Official form | Umgangsprache (Slang) |
|---|---|
| ich lebe | ich leb |
| ich habe | ich hab |
A common error (among Germans) is to write this contraction with an apostrophe: "ich leb’" or "ich hab’".
Main article: Use of the apostrophe
Irregular verbs
The verb sein (to be) is irregular in all of its conjugations:
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich bin | I am |
| du bist | you are |
| er/sie/es ist | he/she/it is |
| wir sind | we are |
| ihr seid | you are (speaking to a group) |
| sie sind | they are |
The modal verbs and the verb wissen are irregular in the first three conjugations:
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich weiß | I know |
| du weißt | you know |
| er/sie/es weiß | he/she/it knows |
| wir wissen | we know |
| ihr wisst | you know (speaking to a group) |
| sie wissen | they know |
The other strong verbs are only irregular in the 2nd and 3rd person singular forms. For example, let’s look at the verb sehen:
| Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ich sehe | I see |
| du siehst | you see |
| er/sie/es sieht | he/she/it sees |
| wir sehen | we see |
| ihr seht | you see (speaking to a group) |
| sie sehen | they see |
Main article:Irregular verbs in German
Present Continuous. The particle "gerade"
In German the present continuous tense is formed with the particle "gerade". This particle makes the action sound like it is taking place at this very moment. "Gerade" is the equivalent of the gerund form in English.
Take a look at these 2 phrases:
I study German
Ich lerne Deutsch
Ich lerne Deutsch
I am studying German
Ich lerne gerade Deutsch
Ich lerne gerade Deutsch
There is an important difference. The first phrase means that even though I am studying German, I am not necessarily doing it right now. The second phrase means that I am studying German now.
The passive
When the subject is not important and you want to emphasize the direct object, the sentence is constructed with the passive:
The present passive’s structure consists of [ werden conjugated in the present] + Partizip II.
If the sentence in the active voice is:
He reads a book
Er liest ein Buch
Er liest ein Buch
The equivalent sentence in the passive voice would be:
The book is read by him
Ein Buch wird von ihm gelesen
Ein Buch wird von ihm gelesen
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