Präsens (Present Tense) 🕗

TENSE ⏳

A tense (Zeitform) tells us when an action happens.

German has six main tenses that describe actions in the:

🕗 Present

	🟢 Präsens
🇬🇧 English Tense	Present Simple, Present Continuous
Use	Actions happening now, general truths, and scheduled future events
Formation	Stem + endings (-e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en)
Example	Ich gehe nach Hause. (I go home. / I am going home.)

flowchart LR
subgraph "Past ⏮️"
P1["⏳ <b>Perfekt (spoken) <b/><br/>
        Actions completed in the past :<br/>
I learned German 🏃🏻‍♀️‍➡"]

P2["📘 <b>Präteritum (written)</b><br/>
Actions completed in the past :<br/>
I learned German 🏃🏻‍♀️ "]

P3["⌛ <b>Plusquam perfekt</b><br/>
Action completed before another action<br/>
I had learned German before I moved to Germany. 🏃🏻‍♀️‍➡"]
end

subgraph Present
PR["🕗 <b>Präsens<br/>
Happening now:
I am learning German ᯓ🏃🏻‍♀️‍➡️"]
end

subgraph Future
F1["🗓️ <b>Futur I</b><br/>
Action will happen in the future.<br/>
I wIll learn German"]

F2["📆 <b>Futur II</b><br/>
Action will be completed before a future deadline.<br/>
I will have learned German before the exam."]
end

PR --> P2
PR --> P1
P1 --> P3
P2 --> P3
PR --> F1 --> F2

    ⏳ Tenses (Zeitformen)
    
    ├── 📖 What is a Tense?
    │
    ├── 🗺️ Tense Overview
    │   ├── Past
    │   ├── Present
    │   └── Future
    │
    ├── 🟢 Präsens (Present)
    │   ├── Formation
    │   ├── Conjugation
    │   ├── Uses
    │   ├── Examples
    │   └── Common mistakes
    │
    ├── 📘 Präteritum (Simple Past)
    │   ├── Formation
    │   ├── Weak verbs
    │   ├── Strong verbs
    │   ├── Uses
    │   └── Examples
    │
    ├── ⏳ Perfekt (Present Perfect)
    │   ├── Formation
    │   ├── haben vs sein
    │   ├── Partizip II
    │   ├── Uses
    │   └── Examples
    │
    ├── ⌛ Plusquamperfekt (Past Perfect)
    │   ├── Formation
    │   ├── Uses
    │   └── Examples
    │
    ├── 🗓️ Futur I
    │   ├── Formation
    │   ├── Uses
    │   └── Examples
    │
    ├── 📆 Futur II
    │   ├── Formation
    │   ├── Uses
    │   └── Examples
    │
    ├── ⚖️ Tense Comparison
    │   ├── Präsens vs Futur I
    │   ├── Perfekt vs Präteritum
    │   ├── Perfekt vs Plusquamperfekt
    │   └── Futur I vs Futur II
    │
    ├── 📊 Timeline Diagram
    │
    ├── 💡 Quick Reference Table
    │
    └── 📝 Exercises

---

Sentences With Tense

⚜️ Golden rule

do/does/is/am/are never translated in German when there is already a Main Verb present in the sentence

• Ich bin in Delhi
• Ich lerne Deutsche (no bin)

Auxiliary verbs are used along with Main Verb in PII form

#	Emoji	Verb	ich(-)	du (- st)	er/sie/es (-t)	wir (-en)	ihr (-t)	sie/Sie (-en)	🇬🇧 English Meaning
1️⃣	🧍	sein	bin	bist	ist	sind	seid	sind	to be
2️⃣	🧳	haben	habe	hast	hat	haben	habt	haben	to have
3️⃣	🌱	werden	werde	wirst	wird	werden	werdet	werden	will / shall / to become

1. Präsens (Present Tense)

Präsens is the most commonly used tense in German.

• It describes actions happening now, regular habits, general facts, and even planned future events.

Formed by

Subject + (Verb Stem + Personal Conjugation Ending) + Object

Verb stay in second position

Forgetting verb position is a common mistake

❌ Ich heute lerne Deutsch. --> Ich lerne heute Deutsch.

💬 Signal Words

Common words used with Präsens.

German	🇬🇧 English
gerade	currently
gewöhnlich	usually
normalerweise	normally
jetzt	now
heute	today
immer	always
oft	often
manchmal	sometimes
jeden Tag	every day
jeden Morgen	every morning

Conjugation of Verb

Based on Person

Person	Singular	Plural
Ist	I- ich	We - wir
II nd	you - du(Tum)	you - ihr (TumLog)
II nd	you - Sie (Aap)	you - Sie(AAp Log)
III rd	he-er ir es she- sie	they - sie

We use different endings for Verb

Person	Ending	Example
ich	-e	ich lerne
du	-st	du lernst
er / sie / es	-t	er lernt
wir	-en	wir lernen
ihr	-t	ihr lernt
sie / Sie	-en	sie lernen

⚠️ Spelling Changes

Some verbs change their spelling in the du and er/sie/es forms.

1. e → i

Infinitive	du	er/sie/es
geben	gibst	gibt
nehmen	nimmst	nimmt

2. e → ie

Infinitive	du	er/sie/es
lesen	liest	liest
sehen	siehst	sieht

3. s/ß/z endings

When the verb stem already ends in s, ß, z, or tz, omit one s in du.

Verb	du
heißen	heißt
tanzen	tanzt

4. Stem ends in d or t

Verb	du	er/sie/es
arbeiten	arbeitest	arbeitet
warten	wartest	wartet

When to use

If something is happening now, happens regularly, is always true, or is already scheduled, use Präsens.

1. General Truths & Facts

Things that are always true. Example:

German	🇬🇧 English
Die Erde dreht sich um die Sonne.	The Earth revolves around the Sun.
Wasser kocht bei 100 °C.	Water boils at 100 °C.
Katzen mögen Milch.	Cats like milk.
Berlin liegt in Deutschland.	Berlin is in Germany.

2. Actions Happening Now

German	🇬🇧 English
Ich lerne Deutsch	I am learning German.
Er arbeitet gerade.	He is currently working.
Wir essen jetzt.	We are eating.
Sie schläft.	She is sleeping.

3. Habitual or Repeated Actions

German	🇬🇧 English
Ich trinke jeden Morgen Kaffee.	I drink coffee every morning.
Er fährt jeden Tag zur Arbeit.	He drives to work every day.
Wir gehen oft spazieren.	We often go for a walk.
Sie liest jeden Abend.	She reads every evening.

4. Future Events (Scheduled)

German often uses Präsens instead of Futur I when the future is already clear from context.

German	🇬🇧 English
Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin.	Tomorrow I am going to Berlin.
Der Zug fährt um 8 Uhr ab.	The train leaves at 8.
Nächste Woche beginnen die Ferien.	The holidays start next week.
Heute Abend kommt Anna.	Anna is coming this evening.

Präsens vs Futur I

If the future is already clear from context (morgen, nächste Woche, um 8 Uhr), Germans usually use Präsens. Use Futur I when you want to emphasize the future, make a prediction, a promise, or express an assumption.

Both Präsens and Futur I can describe future actions. However, Präsens is much more common in everyday German.

When the time is already mentioned, Germans usually use Präsens.

Präsens	Futur I
Usually used for planned or scheduled future events	Used to emphasize the future, make predictions, promises, or assumptions
Verb Stem + Personal Ending	werden + Infinitive
Ich fahre morgen nach Berlin.	Ich werde morgen nach Berlin fahren.

flowchart TD
    A["Talking about the Future?"]
    A --> B{"Is the time already known?"}
    B -->|Yes| C["🟢 Präsens<br/>Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin."]
    B -->|No| D{"Prediction or Promise?"}
    D -->|Yes| E["🗓️ Futur I<br/>Ich werde nach Berlin fahren."]
    D -->|No| C

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🎯 Focus per level

• A1 → Präsens
• A2 → Perfekt
• B1 → Präteritum (common verbs), Futur I
• B2 → Plusquamperfekt, Futur II

Related: Tenses Overview · Future Tenses · Past Tenses · Verbs · Grammar Roadmap