A1 Tenses
Tenses in German
Präsens [Present Tense] The present tense is the most commonly used tense in German. We generally use this tense to talk about the present and the future.
Regular verbs
Regular verbs follow the following conjugation pattern in the present tense:
gehen to go, to walk ich gehe wir gehen du gehst ihr geht er/sie/es geht sie/Sie gehen
| gehen | to go, to walk |
| ich gehe | wir gehen |
| du gehst | ihr geht |
| er/sie/es geht | sie/Sie gehen |
Haben, sein, werden
These important verbs are conjugated as follows in the present tense. These patterns should be second nature to you, as you will be using them again and again to form the other tenses and verb forms:
haben to have ich habe wir haben du hast ihr habt er/sie/es hat sie/Sie haben
sein to be ich bin wir sind du bist ihr seid er/sie/es ist sie/Sie sind
werden to become ich werde wir werden du wirst ihr werdet er/sie/es wird sie/Sie werden
| haben | to have |
| ich habe | wir haben |
| du hast | ihr habt |
| er/sie/es hat | sie/Sie haben |
| sein | to be |
| ich bin | wir sind |
| du bist | ihr seid |
| er/sie/es ist | sie/Sie sind |
| werden | to become |
| ich werde | wir werden |
| du wirst | ihr werdet |
| er/sie/es wird | sie/Sie werden |
I go vs. I am going
German has no equivalent to the English "-ing" form. ==> "I am going" and "I go" are both translated by the regular present tense in German:
I go. Ich gehe. I am going. Ich gehe.
Ich bin gehen. I eat. Ich esse. I am eating. Ich esse
Ich bin essen.
The Basics (Simple Past) Pratertum
Any regular German verb uses the basic -te ending to form the simple past, similar to the -ed past ending in English. The past-tense ending is added to the verb stem exactly as in the present tense. "He played" thus becomes er spielte. To conjugate any regular verb in the simple past, you simply add the past-tense ending to the stem.
As in the present tense, each "person" (he, you, they, etc.) requires its own ending on the verb. There are four (4) unique endings in the German simple past tense, one less than in the present tense (because the endings for ich and the third person are identical in the past). The simple past tense endings are: -te (ich, er/sie/es), -test (du), -tet (ihr), and -ten (Sie, wir, sie [pl.]). Unlike English, the past tense ending is not always the same: I played = ich spielte, we played = wir spielten. Now let's look at all the conjugations of spielen in the simple past tense.
SPIELEN / TO PLAY
Simple Past Tense - Imperfekt Deutsch English Sample Sentence SINGULAR ich spielte I played Ich spielte Basketball. du spieltest you (fam.)
played Spieltest du Schach? (chess) er spielte he played Er spielte mit mir. (with me) sie spielte she played Sie spielte Karten. (cards) es spielte it played Es spielte keine Rolle. (It didn't matter.) PLURAL wir spielten we played Wir spielten Basketball. ihr spieltet you (guys) played Spieltet ihr Monopoly? sie spielten they played Sie spielten Golf. Sie spielten you played Spielten Sie heute? (Sie, formal "you," is both singular and plural.)
The Basics (Present Perfect)
All regular German verbs have a basic past participle form based on the third person singular form. The third person form of the verb spielen is (er) spielt. Add the ge- prefix to that and you get the past participle: gespielt. All regular verbs follow this same pattern: gesagt, gemacht,getanzt, etc.
To form the present perfect tense, you take the past participle (gespielt/played) and use it with an auxiliary or helping verb (usually a form of haben, sometimes sein). The present perfect tense gets its name from the fact that you combine the present tense of the auxiliary verb with the participle to form the tense. (The past perfect is similar, using the past tense of the auxiliary verb.) In most cases, the past participle is placed at the end of the sentence: "Wir haben die ganze Nacht getanzt." (We danced all night.)
To say "I have played" (or "I played") in the German present perfect, you say: "Ich habe gespielt." After you study the chart below, you will grasp the idea even better.
SPIELEN / TO PLAY
Present Perfect Tense - Perfekt Deutsch English Sample Sentence SINGULAR ich habe gespielt I played
I have played Ich habe Basketball gespielt. du hast gespielt you (fam.) played
you have played Hast du Schach gespielt? er hat gespielt he played
he has played Er hat mit mir gespielt. sie hat gespielt she played
she has played Sie hat Karten gespielt. es hat gespielt it played
it has played Es hat keine Rolle gespielt. (It didn't matter.) PLURAL wir haben gespielt we played
we have played Wir haben Basketball gespielt. ihr habt gespielt you (guys) played
you have played Habt ihr Monoploy gespielt? sie haben gespielt they played
they have played Sie haben Golf gespielt. Sie haben gespielt you played
you have played Haben Sie heute gespielt?
More Regular Verbs
Notice the pattern? English Deutsch Simple Past Past Participle answer antworten antwortete* geantwortet* ask fragen fragte gefragt build bauen baute gebaut cost kosten kostete* gekostet* end enden endete* geendet* hear hören hörte gehört say sagen sagte gesagt *A regular verb whose stem ends in -d or -t adds a connecting e before the -te (past) or -t (past participle) ending.
| I go. | Ich gehe. |
| I am going. | Ich gehe. |
| I eat. | Ich esse. |
| I am eating. | Ich esse |
The Basics (Simple Past) Pratertum
Any regular German verb uses the basic -te ending to form the simple past, similar to the -ed past ending in English. The past-tense ending is added to the verb stem exactly as in the present tense. "He played" thus becomes er spielte. To conjugate any regular verb in the simple past, you simply add the past-tense ending to the stem.
Any regular German verb uses the basic -te ending to form the simple past, similar to the -ed past ending in English. The past-tense ending is added to the verb stem exactly as in the present tense. "He played" thus becomes er spielte. To conjugate any regular verb in the simple past, you simply add the past-tense ending to the stem.
As in the present tense, each "person" (he, you, they, etc.) requires its own ending on the verb. There are four (4) unique endings in the German simple past tense, one less than in the present tense (because the endings for ich and the third person are identical in the past). The simple past tense endings are: -te (ich, er/sie/es), -test (du), -tet (ihr), and -ten (Sie, wir, sie [pl.]). Unlike English, the past tense ending is not always the same: I played = ich spielte, we played = wir spielten. Now let's look at all the conjugations of spielen in the simple past tense.
| SPIELEN / TO PLAY Simple Past Tense - Imperfekt | ||
| Deutsch | English | Sample Sentence |
| SINGULAR | ||
| ich spielte | I played | Ich spielte Basketball. |
| du spieltest | you (fam.) played | Spieltest du Schach? (chess) |
| er spielte | he played | Er spielte mit mir. (with me) |
| sie spielte | she played | Sie spielte Karten. (cards) |
| es spielte | it played | Es spielte keine Rolle. (It didn't matter.) |
| PLURAL | ||
| wir spielten | we played | Wir spielten Basketball. |
| ihr spieltet | you (guys) played | Spieltet ihr Monopoly? |
| sie spielten | they played | Sie spielten Golf. |
| Sie spielten | you played | Spielten Sie heute? (Sie, formal "you," is both singular and plural.) |
The Basics (Present Perfect)
All regular German verbs have a basic past participle form based on the third person singular form. The third person form of the verb spielen is (er) spielt. Add the ge- prefix to that and you get the past participle: gespielt. All regular verbs follow this same pattern: gesagt, gemacht,getanzt, etc.
All regular German verbs have a basic past participle form based on the third person singular form. The third person form of the verb spielen is (er) spielt. Add the ge- prefix to that and you get the past participle: gespielt. All regular verbs follow this same pattern: gesagt, gemacht,getanzt, etc.
To form the present perfect tense, you take the past participle (gespielt/played) and use it with an auxiliary or helping verb (usually a form of haben, sometimes sein). The present perfect tense gets its name from the fact that you combine the present tense of the auxiliary verb with the participle to form the tense. (The past perfect is similar, using the past tense of the auxiliary verb.) In most cases, the past participle is placed at the end of the sentence: "Wir haben die ganze Nacht getanzt." (We danced all night.)
To say "I have played" (or "I played") in the German present perfect, you say: "Ich habe gespielt." After you study the chart below, you will grasp the idea even better.
| SPIELEN / TO PLAY Present Perfect Tense - Perfekt | ||
| Deutsch | English | Sample Sentence |
| SINGULAR | ||
| ich habe gespielt | I played I have played | Ich habe Basketball gespielt. |
| du hast gespielt | you (fam.) played you have played | Hast du Schach gespielt? |
| er hat gespielt | he played he has played | Er hat mit mir gespielt. |
| sie hat gespielt | she played she has played | Sie hat Karten gespielt. |
| es hat gespielt | it played it has played | Es hat keine Rolle gespielt. (It didn't matter.) |
| PLURAL | ||
| wir haben gespielt | we played we have played | Wir haben Basketball gespielt. |
| ihr habt gespielt | you (guys) played you have played | Habt ihr Monoploy gespielt? |
| sie haben gespielt | they played they have played | Sie haben Golf gespielt. |
| Sie haben gespielt | you played you have played | Haben Sie heute gespielt? |
| More Regular Verbs Notice the pattern? | |||
| English | Deutsch | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| answer | antworten | antwortete* | geantwortet* |
| ask | fragen | fragte | gefragt |
| build | bauen | baute | gebaut |
| cost | kosten | kostete* | gekostet* |
| end | enden | endete* | geendet* |
| hear | hören | hörte | gehört |
| say | sagen | sagte | gesagt |
| *A regular verb whose stem ends in -d or -t adds a connecting e before the -te (past) or -t (past participle) ending. | |||
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