Verb tenses
Present tense
Ideas covered in this section about the present tense are:
- How do you express the present tense?
- Regular (weak) verbs
- Irregular (strong) verbs
- The negative
- Separable verbs
- Impersonal verbs
How do you express the present tense?
In English, there are three different ways of expressing the present tense.
| I play tennis. | (when I have free time) |
| I am playing tennis. | (eg in answer to the question:
'What are you doing?') |
| I do play tennis every day. | (eg in answer to the question: 'You don't play tennis every day, do you?') |
In German, there is only one way of saying all three of these.
| ich spiele | I play |
| du spielst | you (singular familiar) play |
| Sie spielen | you (singular formal) play |
| er/sie/es spielt | he/she/it plays |
| man spielt | one plays |
| wir spielen | we play |
| ihr spielt | you (plural familiar) play |
| Sie spielen | you (plural formal) play |
| sie spielen | they play |
Regular (weak) verbs
Many verbs follow this pattern.
Some regular (weak) verbs whose stem ends in '-t' add an extra '-e' in the second person familiar form, singular and plural, and in the third person singular.
Examples include: 'arbeiten' (to work), 'warten' (to wait), 'kosten' (to cost).
| ich arbeite | I work |
| du arbeitest | you (singular familiar) work |
| Sie arbeiten | you (singular formal) work |
| er/sie/es arbeitet | he/she/it works |
| wir arbeiten | we work |
| ihr arbeitet | you (plural familiar) work |
| Sie arbeiten | you (plural formal) work |
| sie arbeiten | they work |
For example:
Was kostet eine Melone? - What does a melon cost?
Irregular (strong) verbs
Strong verbs change the vowel in the stem of the infinitive, but only in the second and third person singular; and then add the normal endings.
Verb | First, second and third person singular | English translation |
| lesen | ich lese | I read |
| (to read) | du liest | you (singular formal) read |
| er/sie/es liest | he/she/it reads | |
| sprechen | ich spreche | I speak |
| (to speak) | du sprichst | you (singular formal) speak |
| er/sie/es spricht | he/she/it speaks | |
| geben | ich gebe | I give |
| (to give) | du gibst | you (singular formal) give |
| er/sie/es gibt | he/she/it gives | |
| nehmen | ich nehme | I take |
| (to take) | du nimmst | you (singular formal) take |
| er/sie/es nimmt | he/she/it takes | |
| essen | ich esse | I eat |
| (to eat) | du ißt | you (singular formal) eat |
| er/sie/es ißt | he/she/it eats | |
| sehen | ich sehe | I see |
| (to see) | du ißt | du (singular formal) siehst |
| er/sie/es sieht | he/she/it sees |
Some add an Umlaut to the vowel in the stem:
Verb | First, second and third person singular | English translation |
| fahren | ich fahre | I go/travel |
| (to go/travel) | du fährst | you (singular familiar) go/travel |
| er/sie/es fährt | he/she/it goes/travels | |
| laufen | ich laufe | I run/walk |
| (to run/walk) | du läufst | you (singular familiar) run/walk |
| er/sie/es läuft | he/she/it runs/walks | |
| tragen | ich trage | I wear/carry |
| (to wear/ carry) | du trägst | you (singular familiar) wear/carry |
| er/sie/es trägt | he/she/it wears/carries |
Some are just irregular, such as the verb 'to have' - 'haben' - and the verb 'to know' - (facts/information, not people) - 'wissen':
| ich habe - I have | wir haben - we have |
| du hast - you (singular familiar) have | ihr habt - you (plural familiar) have |
| Sie haben - you (singular formal) have | Sie haben - you (plural formal) have |
| er/sie/es hat - he/she/it has | sie haben - they have |
| ich weiß - I know | wir wissen - we know |
| du weißt - you (singular familiar) know | ihr wißt - you (plural familiar) know |
| Sie wissen - you (singular formal) know | Sie wissen - you (plural formal) know |
| er/sie/es weiß - he/she/it knows | sie wissen - they know |
As in English, the verb 'to be' - 'sein' - is the most irregular of all:
| ich bin | I am |
| du bist | you (singular familiar) are |
| Sie sind | you (singular formal) are |
| er/sie/es ist | he/she/it is |
| wir sind | we are |
| ihr seid | you (plural familiar) are |
| Sie sind | you (plural formal) are |
| sie sind | they are |
NB: The grammatical terms 'regular/weak' and 'irregular/strong' are not important in themselves, and pupils certainly do not need to know them. They are used here as a useful shorthand for referring to certain groups of verbs.
The negative
The negative is formed in German by simply adding 'nicht' to the verb. Again there is no equivalent in German of the English 'I do not/don't', or 'he is/he's not ...-ing'.
| Ich wohne nicht in Hamburg. | I do not live in Hamburg. |
| Sie arbeiten nicht. | They are not working. |
The negative with '... not ... a'
In German, the single word 'kein' is used for this construction:
| (Das ist) kein Problem! (n) | No problem! |
| Sie hat keinen Bruder. (m) | She does not have a brother. |
| Er hat keine Schwester. (f) | He doesn't have a sister. |
| Ich habe kein Lineal. (n) | I don't have a ruler. I have no ruler. |
| Das ist kein Mercedes, (n) | That is not a Merc, |
| das ist ein BMW. (n) | that's a BMW. |
NB: Note that 'kein' used in this way must be made masculine, feminine or neuter, or plural according to the noun it is used with. Note also that it takes the same endings as 'ein'.
Separable verbs
In German, some verbs have two parts to them: the main part of the verb plus a separable prefix.
Some common examples are:
- zumachen (to close)
- anfangen (to begin)
- aufmachen (to open)
- anmalen (to paint/colour in)
- aufstehen (to stand up)
These verbs are called 'separable' because the prefix separates and goes to the end of the sentence (or the end of a clause, or the end of a command). Note, however, that when the verb is used in the infinitive form, the two parts stay together.
| anfangen - to begin | du fängst an | you begin |
| fangt bitte an! | Please begin! ('ihr' plural, familiar form) | |
| fangen Sie bitte an! | Please begin! | |
| Ich will nicht anfangen. | I don't want to begin. |
| aufmachen - to open | Wer macht die Tür auf? | Who is opening/who'll open the door? |
| Karsten, bitte mach die Tür auf! | Karsten, open the door please! | |
| Ich kann das Fenster nicht aufmachen. | I can't open the window. |
| anmalen - to paint/colour in | Malt die Bilder an! | Colour in the pictures! |
| aufstehen - to stand up | Steht alle auf! | All stand (up)! |
NB: Note how the past tense is formed:
| zumachen | Wer hat die Tür zugemacht? | Who shut the door? |
| anfangen | Warum hast du noch nicht angefangen? | Why have you not started yet? |
Impersonal verbs
These are verbs where the subject is often the impersonal pronoun 'es' ('it') in German, but where the subject in English can be a personal pronoun such as 'I', 'you', 'he', 'she', or a noun. They are very handy, very commonly used idiomatic phrases.
NB: The personal element is usually conveyed in the dative or accusative case.
| Wie geht es dir/Ihnen? OR Wie geht’s? | How are you? |
| Dieses Bild gefällt mir nicht. | I don’t like that picture. |
| Gefällt es Ihnen hier in Deutschland? | Do you like (being in) Germany? |
| Hat’s gefallen? | Did you like it? Was it OK? (a film, a meal, a day out, etc) |
| Mir ist warm/kalt. | I’m warm/cold. |
| Es ist mir schlecht. | I don’t feel well. |
| Schmeckt das? | Do you like (the taste of) that? (food) |
| Es tut mir Leid. | I’m sorry. |
| Es fehlt das Bein. | The leg is missing. |
| Es fehlen die Haare. | The hair is missing. |
NB: There are two ways of saying 'there is'/'there are' in German:
- 'es gibt', always followed by the accusative and always used in the singular
- 'es ist'/'es sind' followed by the nominative.
The idea conveyed by 'es gibt' is one of more permanent, general things, whereas the idea behind 'es ist'/'es sind' is more one of temporary, more specific things.
For example:
| Es gibt in Köln einen berühmten Dom. | There’s a famous cathedral in Cologne. |
| Es sind zwei Bücher auf dem Tisch. | There are two books on the table. |