Tenses and conjugation of German verbs
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HideWhat to know about conjugation and tenses in German?
This lesson will be broken down with short lesson in regards to verbs, tenses and conjugation. Of cause, as in any other language, there are three times of tenses, you should know about:
- the German present tense
- the German past tenses
- the German future tenses
Get an idea of the tenses and their use in the table below.
| Present tense | Past tenses | Future tenses |
|---|---|---|
| Präsens (Present tense) | Präteritum (Simple past) | Futur I |
| / | Perfekt (Present perfect) | Futur II |
| / | Plusquamperfekt (Past perfect) | / |
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Table of German tenses and their construction
Lets briefly explain in the table below, when to use which time and how to form it.
| When to use it | How to built it | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Präsens | To describe a present action | -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en | Ich lese ein Buch. |
| Präteritum | To describe past events or actions | -te, -test, -te, -ten, -tet, -ten | Ich las ein Buch. |
| Perfekt | To describe actions completed in the past, or actions that begun in the past but aren't finished yet | auxiliary sein or haben + ge - infinitive stem - -t, -et, -en | Ich habe ein Buch gelesen. |
| Plusquamperfekt | To describe a happening in the past, that took place previous to another happening in the past | auxiliary sein or haben + ge - infinitive stem - -t, -en | Ich hatte ein Buch gelesen. |
| Futur I | To express future events | 'werden' in present + infinitive of the full verb | Ich werde ein Buch lesen. |
| Futur II | To describe actions that will have been closed and completed in a specific time in the future | 'werden' in present + past participle of the full verb + infinitive of sein or haben | Ich werde ein Buch gelesen haben. |
For an exact explanation and other examples, have a look at the special chapters about each of these tenses used in the German language. Have fun studying it. 