Präsens. The Present Tense in German

Präsens. The Present Tense in German

July 5, 2025

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In German, there is the present tense Präsens, which is used to express actions happening at the current moment. However, the role of Präsens in German is not limited to that. In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about this tense.
As already mentioned, the main function of Präsens is to express actions that are happening right now.
Im Moment höre ich mir Musik an. - Right now I'm listening to music.
Präsens is also used when we talk about actions that happen regularly:
Ich trinke Kaffee jeden Morgen. - I drink coffee every morning.
We also use this tense when talking about something permanent:
Wien ist die Hauptstadt des Österreichs. - Vienna is the capital of Austria.
Präsens is also used to express future actions:
Morgen fahren wir zum Arzt. - Tomorrow we are going to the doctor.
So, let’s look at how Präsens is formed in German.
The forms of the present tense Präsens are built by adding personal endings to the stem of the infinitive form of the verb. As you probably already know, the verb stem is everything in the verb except the infinitive ending -en. For example, for the verb malen, the stem is mal-. The system of personal endings in Präsens is the same for weak, strong, and mixed verbs:
Personal endings in Präsens
Let’s take the verb machen as an example.
Ich mache eine grammatische Übung.
Machst du eine grammatische Übung?
Er macht aber keine grammatische Übung!
Wir machen gern grammatische Übungen!
Ihr macht eine grammatische Übung, oder?
Sie machen eine grammatische Übung.
What should be noted?
  • The 1st and 3rd person plural forms of all verbs are identical to the infinitive form:
    • Wir kaufen eine Flasche Wasser. - We are buying a bottle of water.
    Sie kaufen eine Flasche Wasser. - They are buying a bottle of water.
  • Weak and strong verbs with stems ending in -d, -t, -n, -m have an -e- before the personal ending in the 2nd and 3rd person singular and in the 2nd person plural:
    • Bescheidenheit kleidet Jedermann. - Modesty adorns everyone.
    Er mietet eine Wohnung. - He is renting an apartment.
  • Strong verbs like braten, fechten, flechten, gelten, halten, raten, schelten, treten do not have a personal ending in the 3rd person singular, for example:
    • halten
    treten
  • In strong verbs, the root vowel changes in the 2nd and 3rd person singular: a -> ä, аu-> äu, e -> i/ie (exceptions: heben – to lift, schaffen – to create). The vowel changes of strong verbs in Präsens can be found in the table of irregular verbs.
    • Fährst du mit dem Auto oder mit dem Bus? - Are you going by car or by bus?
    But!!!
    Wenn du fertig bist, heb die Hand. - When you're ready, raise your hand.
  • In strong verbs with stems ending in -s, -ss, -ß, -z, -tz (e.g., reisen – to travel, messen – to measure, stoßen – to push, geizen – to be stingy, blitzen – to flash), the final consonant of the stem merges with the -s- of the suffix in the 2nd person singular:
    • Reist du gern? - Do you like to travel?
  • Separable prefixes in verbs are split off and placed at the end of the sentence:
    • Ich mache das Licht aus! - I turn off the light!
    Kommst du mit? - Are you coming along?
  • The conjugation of modal verbs, and the verbs haben, sein, werden, tun in Präsens is different! You can read more about modal verbs in this article: here.
    • sein
    haben
    werden
    tun
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