German Verb-Tenses Overview
There are 6 basic tenses in German. The two 鈥榮imple鈥� tenses are present and simple past. They use just one, conjugated verb. The four 鈥榗ompound鈥� tenses are present perfect, past perfect, future, and future perfect. They use two verbs: a conjugated 鈥榟elping鈥� verb and an infinitive or past participle.
Those same 6 tenses are in the 鈥榠ndicative mood鈥�, which is what we use to talk about real things happening.
The 鈥榮ubjunctive mood鈥� is split into what鈥檚 called 鈥楰onjunktiv I & II鈥� in German. Konjunktiv I is used to report indirect speech. Konjunktiv II is used to express wishes or possibilities (things that aren鈥檛 happening in real life).
The 鈥業mperative鈥� is the third and final mood, used only to deliver commands or mild exhortations.
All of these tenses and moods so far have been in the 鈥榓ctive voice鈥�, which means that the subject of the sentence is the one taking action. There is also the 鈥榩assive voice鈥�, which is what we use when the subject of the sentence is having action taking on it vs. taking action himself (He will be heard.)
Finally understand hard-to-grasp German grammar concepts.
Components:
Konjunkiv I & II
The Konjunktiv I is used to report (but not verify) indirect speech. The Konjunktiv II is used to express an unreal situation such as a desire or possibility.
Examples:
Der Pr盲sident gehe n盲chste Woche in Urlaub.
(It麓s said that the Preisdent is going on vacation next week.)
Ich w盲re mitgegangen, wenn ich die Zeit dazu h盲tte!
(I would have gone with if I had had the time!
Participles - Past & Present
Past participle forms of main verbs are used to make the perfect compound tenses (present perfect, past perfect, future perfect). Present participles function as adverbs or adjectives.
Examples:
Ich habe gesungen. / Ich hatte gesungen. / Ich werde gesungen haben.
Das Kind l盲uft singend die Strasse entlang.
Das singende Kind l盲uft die Strasse entlang.
The 6 German Verb Tenses:
Present Tense:
The present tense is formed by taking the stem / root of the infinitive and adding the appropriate conjugation onto it:
ich mache 鈥� wir machen
du machst 鈥� ihr macht
er macht 鈥� sie machen
If the infinitive verb is 鈥榮trong鈥�, there may also be a stem-vowel change for the 2nd & 3rd persons, singular:
ich helfe 鈥� wir helfen
du hilfst 鈥� ihr helft
er hilft 鈥� sie helfen
Simple Past Tense
Similarly, the simple past tense is formed by adding the conjugations onto the past-form of the infinitive鈥檚 stem / root if it鈥檚 a strong verb. Notice the stem-vowel change from 鈥榚鈥� to 鈥榓鈥� for all persons:
ich half 鈥� wir halfen
du halfst 鈥� ihr halft
er half 鈥� sie halfen
However, if the infinitive verb is 鈥榳eak鈥�, then the simple past tense is formed merely by inserting a 鈥榯鈥� in between the stem/root and the conjugations:
ich machte 鈥� wir machten
du machtest 鈥� ihr machtet
er machte 鈥� sie machten
NOTE: in the simple past, the 3rd person singular (er, sie, es) has the same -e conjugation as 鈥榠ch.鈥�
Present Perfect Tense
This tense corresponds to have + past participle constructions in English (I have gone. You have sung. He has eaten). However, the usage of this tense in German is different! The Present Perfect is the preferred tense for putting a statement into the past tense whereas in English, we prefer the simple past tense (I went. You sang. He ate).
In German, the Present Perfect tense is formed by combining a helping verb (either haben or sein) with a past participle. The helping verb must be conjugated and the past participle is formed differently based on what type of verb the infinitive is (strong, weak, mixed, etc.).
Past Perfect Tense
It鈥檚 simple to form this tense! Just take the same past participle used for the present perfect tense, but change the tense of the helping verb (haben or sein) into its simple past form.
The Past Perfect tense is used to describe something that happened in the past before another past event: I had already changed my clothes before you arrived.
Future Tense
The future tense in German is also pretty straightforward (as in English). Simply use the present tense forms of 鈥榳erden鈥� combined with an infinitive verb:
ich werde singen (I will sing)
du wirst kochen (you will cook)
er wird gehen (he will go)
wir werden einkaufen (we will go shopping)
ihr werdet einschlafen (y鈥檃ll will fall asleep)
sie werden lachen (they will laugh)
NOTE: even though 鈥榳erden鈥� is used to formulate the future tense, it does NOT translate to 鈥榳ill鈥�. It actually means 鈥榯o become鈥� and is also used in the present tense to say, for example, Er wird Arzt (He 鈥榖ecomes鈥� [a] doctor, a.k.a. He鈥檚 studying to be a doctor.)
Future Perfect
As the name suggests, the Future Perfect Tense combines aspects of the Future Tense and the Perfect Tenses. The conjugated verb is still 鈥榳erden鈥�, but now it must be combined with TWO additional verbs: a past participle and then either 鈥榟aben鈥� or 鈥榮ein鈥�:
Ich werde das Buch gekauft haben (I will have purchased that book 鈥� )
The Future Perfect Tense is used to describe something that will happen in the future before another event that will also happen in the future: He will have gone by the time you arrive.
Subjective Mood
Konjunktiv I
The Konjunktiv I is used to report indirect speech. As such, it doesn鈥檛 factor into conversational German very frequently, but you鈥檒l hear it a lot in news reports, usually in the 3rd person.
Statements such as 鈥淧resident X says the bill will be passed by next week鈥�, the 鈥榮ays鈥� would be in the Konjunktiv I in German. We don鈥檛 have this option in English.
Thus, German鈥檚 Konjunktiv I is useful for making neutral reports. So-and-so says X, but the person reporting that isn鈥檛 making any claim as to whether X is actually true.
Konjunktiv II
In contrast to German鈥檚 Konjunktiv I, this version of the subjunctive is highly useful in everyday speech.
With just a handful of exceptions, there are really only 4 options that you need to know:
Active Voice:
Future: Ich w眉rde spielen (I would play) 鈥斺�� 飞眉谤诲别苍 (conjugated) + infinitive
Past: Ich h盲tte gespielt (I would have played) 鈥斺��&苍产蝉辫;丑盲迟迟别苍 or 飞盲谤别苍 (conjugated) + past participle
Passive Voice
Future: Ich w眉rde geh枚rt werden (I would be heard) 鈥斺�� 飞眉谤诲别苍 (conjugated) + past participle + werden
Past: Ich w盲re geh枚rt worden (I would have been heard) 鈥斺�� 丑盲迟迟别苍 or 飞盲谤别苍 (conjugated) + past participle + worden
Imperative Mood
Use this mood to give commands to one or more people, in the informal (du / ihr) or formal (Sie):
Schlaf! (du) / Schlaft! (ihr) / Schlafen Sie!
Iss! (du) / Esst! (ihr) / Essen Sie!
Note: there are stem-vowel changes for the 鈥榙u鈥� commands if it鈥檚 a strong verb.
So-called 鈥榤ild exhortations鈥� can be given in the 1st person, plural:
Gehen wir! OR Lass uns gehen! 鈥� Let鈥檚 go!
Passive Voice
The only passive voice tenses that are truly useful to know are the present, simple past, and perfect past:
Ich werde verletzt. (I am being hurt.) 鈥� 鈥榳erden鈥� (conjugated) + past participle
Ich wurde verletzt. (I was hurt.) 鈥� 鈥榳urden鈥� (conjugated) + past participle
Ich bin verletzt worden. (I have been hurt.) 鈥� 鈥榮ein鈥� (conjugated) + past participle + worden
Coming soon
