Present tense verbs

The present tense is what we use to talk about things which are happening right now and things which always happen, for example: 'I'm eating a sandwich' and 'I eat a sandwich for lunch'. The vast majority of verbs are 'weak' or 'regular', which means they all follow the same pattern.

Weak or regular verbs

For weak/regular verbs take off the

to find the stem and add the following:

Spielen* (To play)

-> She plays badminton every day.

Verb examples

Below is a list of verbs with their English translation.

Verb examples with English translation

Examples in sentences

• Ich glaube, dass du die Wahrheit sprichst -> I believe that you are telling the truth.
• Mein Vater schickt mir oft Briefe -> My father often sends me letters.
• Meine Eltern warten auf uns -> my parents are waiting for us.
• Wann reist er nach Indien? -> When is he travelling to India?
• Ihr sagt zu viel und hört nicht zu! -> You say too much and don't listen!

Exceptions

If the stem ends in 'd' or 't' add an extra 'e' before the ending in the third person singular. For example:

• Finden -> er findet - he finds.
• Warten -> sie wartet - she waits.

If the stem ends in 's' you only add 't' in the second person singular. For example:

• Heißen -> du heißt -> you are called.

Strong or irregular verbs

Most strong/irregular verbs have exactly the same endings as regular verbs, and the only changes are in the

and

forms.

Example using the verb 'fahren' (to go)

Next to each verb you can see the

and

forms. Everything else will follow the same pattern.

Useful vocabulary: common strong verbs

Modal verbs

See the section on modal verbs which are 'special' in several ways.

• Er isst gern Kuchen -> He likes eating cake.
• Es hilft mir, wenn du abspülst -> It helps me when you wash up.
• Liest du mir eine Geschichte vor? -> Will you read me a story?
• Er sieht abends gern fern -> He likes watching TV in the evening.