Present tense (Präsens) in German

Definition and usage of the present tense 

The present tense is used in many situations. By using it the speaker declares or describes a situation in the present. The table shows you situations in which the present tense is used. 

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Marker words that indicate the present tense in German

If you see some certain words in a sentence, you can be sure that the present tense is the right tense to use. Find some examples of marker words in the table below.

Here are some example sentences:

• Normalerweise gehe ich jeden Montag schwimmen. (Usually, I go swimming every monday.)
• Manchmal hat er Albträume. (Sometimes, he has nightmares.)
• Er wohnt hier seit vier Monaten. (He loves here since four months now.)

Conjugation of the present tense with examples

Conjugation of regular verbs

A verb has to be declined according to the subject it refers to. The declension of regular verbs ending on -en are marked in the table below. Look at the example of the verb kommen. The word stem is komm- . 

For example:

• Sie kommen aus dem Kino. (They come out of the cinema.)
• Wir kommen vom Strand. (We come from the beach.)
• Er kommt aus der Türkei. (He is from turkey.)

Conjugation of irregular verbs

Some German verbs are conjugated irregularly. See the most common used verbs in the table below:

Other examples of irregular cojugated verbs are:

• Conjugation of verbs with stems that ends in a sibilant (s, ss, ß, z)

• Word stem ends in - m, -t, d, n

• Conjugation of verbs with the infinitive ending with -n 

• Stem-changing words

• Modal verbs

See the explanation and some examples to every exception in the small chapters below.

For the declension of this irregular verbs, there is no logical rule. You just have to learn them by heart.

Conjugation of verbs with stems that ends in a sibilant (s, ss, ß, z) 

If the word stem of a verb ends on s, ss, ß or z, the second person singular (du / you) only adds an -t and not -st, like in the example before. The table shows you the construction with the example of the verb heißen. The word stem is heiß-. The other forms are built regularly.

For example:

• Ich heiße Bernd! (My name is Bernd!)
• Heißt du Tobi? (Is your name Tobi?)
• Wir heißen Schmidt mit Nachnamen. (Our last name is Schmidt.)

This rule exist, because otherwise, the words would be very difficult to pronounce. 'Heißt' is much more easier to pronounce than 'heißst'.

Word stem ends in - m, -t, d, n

Verbs with word stems ending on these letters are for example: atmen, rechnen, arbeiten. See in the table how you insert the "e" in the correct way. 

For example: 

• Du arbeitest im Schwimmbad. (You work at the pool.)
• Ich arbeite als Koch. (I work as a cook.)
• Wir arbeiten freiwillig. (We work voluntarily.)

The -e endings are inserted as a 'bumper'. Otherwise the words would sound uncomely, like for instance 'du arbeitst', or 'er arbeitt'.

Conjugation of verbs with the infinitive ending with -n 

Some verbs only end with -n rather than on -en in their infinitive. For example: klingeln, bügeln, lächeln. They are conjugated in a different way.

For example:

• Ich sammle Postkarten. (I collect post cards.)
• Du sammelst Briefmarken. (You collect stamps.)
• Sie sammeln Magazine. (She collects magazines.)

Stem-changing words

Some strong verbs exist of a, au or e. In total, there are four types of stem changes: a to ä, au to äu, e to i, e to ie. See some examples in the table below.

As you can see, those vowel changes only happen in the 2nd and 3rd person singular. Besides the vowel change, the endings of the words are regularly.

Modal verbs

Modal verbs are used to express the personal attitude about a happening. There are six modal verbs that also have vowel changes in their present declension.

With the modal verbs, only the persons in singular (ich, du, er, sie, es, Sie) change their word stem.

Now, that you have learned about the present tense, try to deepen your knowledge with our exercises.