The Präsens is the most used German tense. It covers what is happening now, habitual actions, general truths and even scheduled future events. Most verbs add the endings -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en to the stem; many strong verbs change their stem vowel in the du- and er/sie/es-forms (e→i/ie, a→ä).
When to use it
Actions happening now
Ich lerne gerade Deutsch.
I am learning German right now.
Habits and routines
Er spielt jeden Tag Fußball.
He plays football every day.
General truths
Wasser kocht bei 100 Grad.
Water boils at 100 degrees.
Regular endings
| schwach | stark | |
|---|---|---|
| ich | -e | -e |
| du | -st | -st |
| er/sie/es | -t | -t |
| wir | -en | -en |
| ihr | -t | -t |
| sie/Sie | -en | -en |
Irregular verbs
Completely irregular
Modal verbs
Stem change: e → ie
Stem change: e → i
Stem change: a → ä
Frequently asked
The Präsens is the most used German tense. It covers what is happening now, habitual actions, general truths and even scheduled future events. Most verbs add the endings -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en to the stem; many strong verbs change their stem vowel in the du- and er/sie/es-forms (e→i/ie, a→ä). The main cases are actions happening now, habits and routines and general truths. For example: Ich lerne gerade Deutsch. — I am learning German right now..
Regular verbs take: schwach: ich -e, du -st, er/sie/es -t, wir -en, ihr -t, sie/Sie -en; stark: ich -e, du -st, er/sie/es -t, wir -en, ihr -t, sie/Sie -en.
The most common ones are sein, haben, werden, können, müssen, wollen, sollen and dürfen. Each has its own conjugation table with the full set of forms.
No. The Präsens sits at A1 — Beginner, which is free to practise.
Every verb form becomes a card that comes back right before you would forget it.
