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The sentence you use determines the verb tense. For example, if you're talking about:
| Situation | Tense to Use |
|---|---|
| Something that is happening right now or happens all the time | Present |
| Something that happened in the past | Perfect (sometimes Imperfect) |
| Something that is going to happen in the future | Future |
| Something that might happen (but isn't definite) | Conditional |
| Something that happened before something else in the past | Pluperfect |
| Something you want someone to do (a command) | Imperative |
| Something that I would like to / can / should do | Modal Verbs |
Here are some key features of each tense to help you recognize them. Look at the similarities as well as the differences.
| Tense | Auxiliary Verb | Other Features | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | N/A | N/A |
|
| Imperfect | N/A | N/A |
|
| Imperative | N/A | N/A |
|
| Perfect | haben/sein (present) | Past participle at the end |
|
| Pluperfect | haben/sein (imperfect) | Past participle at the end |
|
| Future | werden | Infinitive at the end |
|
| Conditional | würde | Infinitive at the end |
|
| Modal Verbs | müssen / können / mögen / dürfen / wollen / sollen | Infinitive at the end |
|
The most basic word order in German, just like in English, is the subject – verb – direct object sequence: A simple statement is constructed in the following manner: the subject comes first, then the conjugated verb, then the object and any infinitives or participles.
In German, verbs are categorized into three types: weak (regular), strong (irregular), and mixed verbs. Weak verbs follow a standard, predictable conjugation pattern in all tenses. Strong verbs change the stem vowel in both the past tense and the past participle. Mixed verbs combine parts of weak and strong verbs. These mixed verbs are frequently used and should not be overlooked.
Important: German has no present progressive tense (“am eating” / “are doing”). The German Präsens “ich esse” can mean “I eat” or “I am eating,” depending on context.
| kommen to come | nehmen to take | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ich komme | ich nehme | ||
| du kommst | du nimmst | ||
| er/es/sie kommt | er/es/sie nimmt | ||
| wir kommen | wir nehmen | ||
| ihr kommt | ihr nehmt | ||
| Sie/sie kommen | Sie/sie nehmen |
| gehen to go | machen to do/make | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ich gehe | ich mache | ||
| du gehst | du machst | ||
| er/es/sie geht | er/es/sie macht | ||
| wir gehen | wir machen | ||
| ihr geht | ihr macht | ||
| Sie/sie gehen | Sie/sie machen |
| fragen to ask | antworten to answer | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ich frage | ich antworte | ||
| du fragst | du antwortest | ||
| er/es/sie fragt | er/es/sie antwortet | ||
| wir fragen | wir antworten | ||
| ihr fragt | ihr antwortet | ||
| Sie/sie fragen | Sie/sie antworten |
| fahren to drive | schreiben to write | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ich fahre | ich schreibe | ||
| du fährst | du schreibst | ||
| er/es/sie fährt | er/es/sie schreibt | ||
| wir fahren | wir schreiben | ||
| ihr fahrt | ihr schreibt | ||
| Sie/sie fahren | Sie/sie schreiben |
Beispiel: Er fährt (fahren)
1. nimmt – 2. machen – 3. gehst – 4. schreibt – 5. frage – 6. kommen – 7. antworten – 8. fahren – 9. nimmt – 10. antwortet – 11. machst – 12. kommt – 13. schreibe – 14. macht – 15. fragen
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