Present Perfect Tense

Simple Past

Simple Past Weak t-verbs

Future Tense

Present Tense

Past Perfect Tense

Simple Past Strong -en verbs

Passive Tense
Present Tense
::General Rules::

1) Stem of the verb plus -e, -st, - (e)n, -t, - (e)n.

2) For verbs with stems ending in d or t, add: -e, -est, -et, -en, -et, -en.

3) In strong verbs (essen, etc.) the stem vowel changes in the 2nd & 3rd person singular.

ich

du

er/sie/es

wir

ihr

sie/Sie

Stem+

- e

-(e) st

-t

- (e)n

- t

- (e)n

haben

habe

hast

hat

haben

habt

haben

sein

bin

bist

ist

sind

seit

sind

werden

werde

wirdst

wird

werden

werdet

werden

binden

binde

bindest

bindet

binden

bindet

binden

angeln
ang(e)le
angelst
angelt
angeln
angelt
angeln
essen esse isst isst essen esst essen

 

Present Perfect
::General Rules::
1) The present perfect in German is equal to the present perfect in English (I have done that = Ich habe das gemacht.) Both use a 'helping' or 'linking' verb. In English, the linking verb is always have, in German, that linking verb is haben or sein.
2) Most verbs in German take haben. Those that take sein must
a) be intransitive; they cannot take a direct object (accusative)
OR b) they express a change in either condition or place (excluding bleiben and sein, which use sein).
3) Whereas English uses the simple past most often and rarely uses the present perfect, German uses the present perfect more often. The present perfect is always used when speaking except in some special cases. The simple past is used most often when relating a story in the past tense or in some set phrases. The simple past of sein (war, warst, etc.) and haben (hatte, hattest, etc) and all auxiliary verbs are also used regularly, even in speech.
4) The present perfect is formed with the auxiliary or linking verb plus the past participle, which begins with ge + the verb stem + en or (e)t.
ex) Noun aux. predicate past participle. See examples below.
5) Most verbs are called 'weak' verbs and their past participles end in a t, i.e.. gelernt.
Some verbs are strong and end in -en. Most strong verbs have a vowel shift, i.e.. gekommen.
For a list of strong (and mixed) verbs, click here.
6) In subordinate or defendant clauses, the auxiliary verb is sent to the end. Example 4 below.
7) When the verb has a separable prefix, the 'ge' prefix remains on the stem, after the separable prefix: mitgekommen, abgewartet. See example 5 below.
::Examples::
1) Ich habe das Buch gelesen.
(strong verb with haben)		 I have read the book. I read the book. I did read the book.
2) Ich bin nach Hause gekommen.
(strong verb with sein)		 I have come home. I came home. I did come home.
3) Ich habe mein Auto gebracht.
(mixed or irregular verb with haben)		 I brought my car. I have brought my car. I did bring my car.
4) Sie haben in einer langen Zeit nicht geredet.
(weak verb with haben)		 They have not spoken in a long time. They did not speak for a long time.
5) Schade, dass dein Haus abgebrannt ist.
(mixed verb with separable prefix 'ab' with sein in sub. clause form, aux. verb at the end)		 Too bad that your house burned down. Too bad that your house has burned down.

 

Simple Past Weak t-verbs
::General Rules::
1) Sentence structure remains the same in the simple past
2) Except for the simple past of haben (hatten) and sein (waren), the simple is used primarily in written German and when relating a story in the past when speaking.

weak verbs

d & t endings

irreg. t-verbs

ich

lernte

arbeitete

dachte

du

lerntest

arbeitetest

dachtest

er/sie/es

lernte

arbeitete

dachte

wir

lernten

arbeiteten

dachten

ihr

lerntet

arbeitetet

dachtet

sie

lernten

arbeiteten

dachten

 

Simple Past Strong (e)n-verbs
::General Rule::
The 1st & 3 person singular NEVER have an ending in Simple Past -en verbs (strong verbs).
For a list of -en verbs & their tenses, go to Strong & Mixed Verbs.

ich

sprach, -- no ending

du

sprachst, --st

er/sie/es

sprach, --no ending

wir

sprachen, --en

ihr

spracht, --t

sie/Sie

sprachen, --en

 

Past Perfect
::Rule::
Aux. verb (hatten or waren)....past participle.
::Examples::
1) Er hatte das gut gelernt. He had learned that well
2) Sie war schon gekommen. She had already come.
ich hatte gelernt war gekommen
du hattest gelernt warst gekommen
er hatte gelernt war gekommen
wir hatten gelernt waren gekommen
ihr hattet gelernt wart gekommen
sie/Sie hatten gelernt waren gekommen


Future Tense
::Rule::
werden.....infinitive.
ex) Ich werde es später machen. I will do it later. I'm going to do it later.
::Modals::
werden.....infinitive + modal infinitive.
ex) Er wird auch mitkommen wollen. He will also want to come. He'll want to come too.
ich
werde kommen
du
 wirdst kommen
er/sie/es
 wird kommen
wir
 werden kommen
ihr
werdet kommen
sie/Sie
 werden kommen

 

Passive Tense
::General Rule::
The appropriate tense of werden with the appropriate past participle.
Present conjugated form of present werden...past participle.
example: Das Auto wird gewaschen. The car is being washed.
Simple Past conj'd form of wurden...past participle.
example: Das Auto wurde gewaschen. The car was washed.
Present Perfect conj'd form of sein...past participle + worden.
example: Das Auto ist gewaschen worden. The car has been washed.
Past Perfect conj'd simple past of sein...past participle + worden.
example: Das Auto war gewaschen worden. The car had been washed.
Future conj'd form of werden...past part. werden.
example: Das Auto wird gewaschen worden. The car will be washed.
Future Perfect conj'd form of werden...past participle worden sein.
example: Das Auto wird gewaschen worden sein. The car will have been washed.