1. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
—Wer kümmert sich um Maria?
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2. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
In German, the present tense (das Präsens) is used to express what is happening now (I’m going), what happens on a regular basis (I go), and what will happen in the near future (I’ll go).
Use of the present tense
now
Ich gehe ins Kino.
I am going to the movies.
regularly
Ich gehe jeden Freitag ins Kino.
I go to the movies every Friday.
near future
Nach der Deutschstunde gehe ich ins Kino.
I’ll go to the movies after class.
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3. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
ACHTUNG!
Remember, English has three different ways of talking about
the present, but German has only one present tense.
Ich gehe. I am going. I go. I do go.
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4. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
You also use the present tense to talk about something you started doing in the past and are still doing. These sentences usually include the preposition seit (since, for) and a date or length of time to indicate since when or for how long you’ve been doing something.
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5. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
To form the present tense of regular verbs, add the appropriate ending to the verb stem [the infinitive minus –en]. The present tense endings are shown in the following table in red.
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6. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
If the verb stem ends in –d or –t, add e before the –st or –t ending.
du badest you bathe
er badet he bathes
ihr badet you bathe
du arbeitest you work
er arbeitet he works
ihr arbeitet you work
If the verb stem ends in –s, –ss, –ß, –x, or –z, add –t ( and not –st ) for the du form.
Du hasst diese neuen Autos?
You hate these new cars?
Du tanzt sehr gut.
You dance very well.
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7. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
If the infinitive of a verb ends in –eln or –ern, drop the –n to get the verb stem. For these verbs, the present tense ending for the wir and Sie/sie forms is –n (not –en). For –eln verbs, the ich form drops the –e and the –n of the infinitive before adding the –e ending.
Wenn sie mich ärgern, helfe ich ihnen nicht.
I won’t help them if they annoy me.
Ich bügle mein Hemd und Sie bügeln Ihre Hosen.
I’ll iron my shirt and you’ll iron your pants.
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8. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
Some German verbs are irregular: they use the same endings as regular verbs, but the vowel in the verb stem changes in the du and er/sie/es forms. Many of these verbs, called stemchanging verbs, fall into one of three main categories.
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9. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
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10. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
ACHTUNG!
The third person singular form of geben, es gibt, is an idiomatic expression that means there is or there are.
Es gibt nicht genug Brot. There’s not enough bread.
Es gibt viele kluge Studenten. There are a lot of bright students.
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11. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
The verbs haben, sein, and wissen are irregular in the present tense.
Du hast keine Zeit.
You don’t have time.
Wir sind verlobt.
We are engaged.
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