How To Identify German Tenses: Present, Past, & Future

Tenses in German: Definition & Types

While learning to speak, listen, write, or even read German language properly, you will need to learn tenses. Hence, here are the tenses, in general:

What Are Tenses?

Nouns and verbs are important for a sentence to complete. Verbs, especially, are used to describe the actions of the subject (noun) in the sentence. To specify the timing of this action, tenses are used in every language. Similarly, in German, you use tense to describe when the subject did a specific action.

Types of Tenses in German?

As noted before, German tenses are one of the most crucial aspects of German grammar. If you don’t understand tenses, you will not be able to conjugate the verbs in a sentence properly. There are six different types of tenses in German that are used to describe the timing of an event or action. Here is a list of all of them:

1. Present tense (Präsens)
2. Simple past (Präteritum)
3. Present perfect (Perfekt)
4. Past perfect (Plusquamperfekt)
5. Future tense (Futur I)
6. Future perfect (Futur II)

The sections further will elaborate these types of tenses in German and their usage.

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Regular and Irregular Verbs in German

Every tense has its own rules for verb conjugation. Just like English, the German language also has regular and irregular verbs. Irregular verbs are conjugated separately and have to be memorized separately. Regular verbs and their tense forms are the same. Hence, all you need to do is learn the pattern. Some of the examples of irregular German verbs are:

• Sein (to be)
• Haben (to have)
• Lesen (to read)
• Essen (to eat)

These are the types of verbs in German. The sections below will help you explore the types of tenses in German in detail.

Also Read: German pronouns

Present Tense in German (Präsens)

The present tense in German is the simplest of all tenses and is the first tense that the beginners learn. It is used to describe something that is happening currently in the present time. Here are some examples of simple present tense sentences:

I study/I am studying (Ich studiere)

I sleep/ I am sleeping (Ich schlafe)

How to Conjugate a Verb in Present Tense?

To conjugate the verb in present tense, you must remove the infinitive ending of the verb “en” and instead of that, you use the following endings in the verb:

However, for irregular verbs, the above pattern will not be followed. The 2 of the most used irregular verbs are “to be (Sein) and to have (Haben). For them, the following rules can be followed:

Worksheet

1.) Ich_______, dass es spät _______. [wissen / sein]

2.) Mein Bruder _______ noch, aber meine Mutter _______ schon wach. [schlafen / sein]

3.) _______ ihr mir heute im Garten helfen. Euer Vater _______ keine Zeit. [können / haben]

4.) Er _______ dem Verkäufer das Geld und _______ das Eis. [geben / nehmen]

5.) Du_______ gerne Musik und _______ gerne Filme. [hören / sehen]

Also Read: German Sentence Structure

Past Tense in German

While you learn German, know that there are three types of past tenses. One is simple past tense, one is present perfect tense, and third one is past perfect tense. Refer to the sections below to know more about each of them:

Simple Past Tense (Präteritum)

This type of past tense is usually used in written German. Other than the common auxiliary verbs, you will rarely hear this tense in spoken English.

How to Conjugate a Verb in Simple Past Tense?

To conjugate the verb in simple past tense, you have to remove the “en” ending of the verb and replace it with the following endings:

Of course, there are several irregular verbs that do not follow the pattern above. For them, you can follow the table below:

Worksheet

1.) Wir _______ nicht den Weg, also _______ wir stehen. [kennen / bleiben]

2.) Vorgestern _______ ich mir die Haare schneiden und gestern _______ ich in die Schule. [lassen / gehen]

3.) Er _______ ein Buch und _______ dann eine E-Mail. [lesen / schreiben]

4.) Ihr _______ mir den Schlüssel und ich _______ ihn. [geben / nehmen]

5.) Nach dem Unterricht _______ du „Tschüss“ und_______ nach Hause. [sagen / gehen]

Present Perfect Tense

A sentence in present perfect tense has two parts:

1. One is the auxiliary verb (like “have” in English)
2. Second is past participle of the verb you are conjugating (like “prayed” in English).

For example:

• Ich habe gebetet (I have prayed)

We add a “ge” as a prefix to the use of a verb’s past participle. This will be the case with all regular verbs.

How to Conjugate a Verb in Present Perfect Tense?

To conjugate a verb in present perfect tense, you have to add the prefix “ge”. Follow the table below to know how a verb “learn” is conjugated in present perfect tense:

For irregular verbs like to be and to have, you can follow the table below:

Worksheet

1.) Keiner meiner Lehrer  _______  Müller  _______  . [heißen]

2.) Wer  _______  hat meine Tasche  _______ ? [finden]

3.) Ihr  _______  es  _______  . [wissen]

4.) Ich  _______  diese Aufgabe nicht  _______ . [können]

5.) Wir  _______  das nicht  _______  . [müssen]

Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tenses in German describe the actions and events that took place before a certain time in the past. This tense, like in the English language, is used in storytelling,

How to Conjugate a Verb in Past Perfect Tense?

To conjugate a verb in past perfect tense, you must follow the table below:

You will notice that there is an addition of an auxiliary verb (to have). That is how you can conjugate the irregular verbs in past perfect tense.

Worksheet

1.) Wir  _______ einen Hund und eine Katze  _______ . [haben]

2.)  _______ ihr gestern meine Mutter  _______ ? [sehen]

3.) Du  _______ keine Zeit  _______ . [haben]

4.) Sie (=Meine Schwester)  _______ bereits vor der Schule  _______ . [essen]

5.) Ich  _______ gestern meinen Schlüssel  _______ . [vergessen]

Future Tense in German

We use future tense in German to describe an event or action that will take place in the future. For this, in the German language, there are 2 future tenses. Refer to the sections below:

Future Tense (Futur I)

This tense can be comparable to the English future tense. This is used to describe the future intentions or assumption about the future.

How to Conjugate a Verb in Future Tense?

To conjugate the verb in future tense, you can follow the procedure below:

For irregular verbs, you can notice in the table below for “to have”:

Worksheet

1.) Ich  _______ feiern, leider  _______ du nicht kommen.

2.) Mein Bruder  _______ mich besuchen, deshalb  _______ ich kochen.

3.) Wir  _______ uns wiedersehen. Weißt du schon, wann du hier sein  _______?

4.) Meine Eltern  _______ morgen wandern gehen, ich  _______ aber nicht mitgehen.

5.) Wann  _______ du nach New York  _______ ? [fliegen]

Future Perfect (Futur II)

This future perfect tense is used to express the idea of an action or an event will take place or finish by a particular time in the future.

How to Conjugate a Verb in Future Perfect Tense?

To form this tense, you will need the finite form of werden and the auxiliary verbs to be or to have. Refer to the table below to learn more:

For irregular verbs, you can refer to the table below:

Worksheet

1.) In drei Stunden _______ ich genug _______ . [lernen]

2.) Ich _______ eine Stunde Fußball _______ , wenn ich die Lust verliere. [spielen]

3.) In einem Jahr _______ wir alle Prüfungen _______ . [schreiben]

4.) Ihr _______ bereits _______ , wenn ich nach Hause komme. [essen]

5.) Nächste Woche _______ du bereits dein neues Auto _______ . [kaufen]

These were the six types of German tenses. For each of them, you will also find the worksheets to solve and learn.

Also Read: German Letter Writing

German Tenses and Word Order

When it comes to the order of words in a sentence, the German language is very strict. As noted above, some German tenses need more than one part or component to complete the sentence. You must follow the rule below while conjugating a verb in these tenses:

1. Present Perfect Tense
2. Past Perfect Tense
3. Future Tense
4. Future Perfect Tense

Rule: The conjugated verb always takes the second position. The other components of the sentence are at the end of the clause. This is the case for declarative clauses and not subordinate clauses.

Conclusion

To sum up, German tenses are a bit of a complex topic to understand. However, with correct guidance and directional learning at Gradding’s German online coaching, it is possible to make a good grip on the following. Our experts emphasize on knowing about every student’s learning style. Hence, the classes are personalized and so are the study plans.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. How Many Tenses Are There in German?

There are a total of six tenses in the German language:

1. Present Tense
2. Present Perfect Tense
3. Past Simple Tense
4. Past Perfect Tense
5. Future Tense
6. Future Perfect Tense

Q2. What Are the 6 Modals in German?

The 6 modals in the German language are below:

1. können (Can)
2. dürfen (May)
3. mögen (Like)
4. müssen (Must)
5. sollen (Should)
6. wollen (Want)

Q3. How Many Types of Verbs in German Are There?

There are two primary classes or types of verbs in German:

1. Weak or Regular Verbs
2. Strong or Irregular Verbs

Their conjugation differs and they don’t follow any set of patterns or rules.

Q4. How To Identify Tenses in German?

To identify the tenses in German, you first have to notice how the action verb describes the action. If it indicates it to be done, it is past tense. If the action word implies that the