Formation of the German Präsens

Table of contents – Präsens

On this page you will find the following:

1. Conjugation rule
2. Regular conjugation forms
3. Deviating conjugation forms
4. Further explanations and exercises

What is the rule for forming the Präsens?

On the whole, the formation of the German Präsens (which is the tense for the Present) is not very complicated as the conjugation of the verb follows a rather simple pattern. It is just one word combining principal part and suffix. However, the terminations are regular, but need to be learned even if they remain unchanged for all verbs (whether strong or weak ones). Nevertheless, modal verbs as well as the verb ‘sein’ (to be) are exceptions to this. Also, strong verbs change their base vowel when forming the Präsens. Now the rule in detail:

Conjugation of the Präsens

Principal part of the verb (word stem) + suffix (see finite verb forms)

Example sentences

• „Ihr habt aber ein tolles Auto.“ (You do have an awesome car.)
  • ‘habt’ is a combination of the stem and termination ‘hab+t’ and is conjugated in the 2nd person plural.
• „Emily lächelt sehr schön.“ (Emily smiles beautifully.)
  • ‘lächelt’ is a combination of ‘lächel+t’ and is conjugated in the 3rd person singular.
• „Gibst du mir bitte das Salz?“ (Would you please pass me the salt?)
  • ‘gibst’ is split into ‘gib+st’. In this case, a strong verb is conjugated in the 2nd person singular, and so the base vowel changes from ‘-e-’ to ‘-i-’.

Attention: Modal verbs (‘können, wollen, müssen’, etc.) have other terminations:

• „Ich muss bald nach Hause.“ (I’ll have to go home soon.)
  • In this case the suffix is dropped; a detailed explanation can be found under modal verb forms in the Präsens.

Regular conjugation forms of the Präsens

Most of the German verbs use the normal (regular) terminations in the Präsens which are listed in the table. The verb ‘machen’ (to make) with its corresponding verb stem ‘mach’ is used as an example for illustration:

Lots of additional verbs as ‘singen’ (to sing), ‘kaufen’ (buy), ‘kommen’ (come), ‘schreiben’ (write), ‘lernen’ (learn) etc. belong to this group.

* This is the honorific.

Deviating conjugation forms in the Präsens

Some verbs show a slightly different conjugation pattern which means they deviate from the standard conjugation. In detail:

Dropping of ‘-s-’ (Principal part ends in a sound like ‘s, ss, ß, z, tz, x’)

If the principal part of a verb ends in one of these terminations, the 2nd person singular coincides with the 3rd person. This means the finite suffix of the 2nd person loses its ‘-s-’. However, this only occurs in rare cases. The table shows the example verb ‘reisen’ (to travel) with its principal part ‘reis’:

Additional verbs that follow the same rule are ‘sitzen’ (to sit), ‘fassen’ (grasp), ‘mixen’ (mix), ‘reißen’ (tear), ‘rasen’ (speed) etc.

Adding an ‘-e-’ (Principal part ends in ‘d, t, m, n’)

In these cases an ‘-e-’ is inserted between the principal part and the finite suffix due to reasons of pronunciation. This affects the 2nd and 3rd person singular as well as the 2nd person plural. The example verb here is ‘warten’ (to wait) with its principal part ‘wart’:

Similar verbs are ‘finden’ (to find), ‘heiraten’ (marry), ‘mieten’ (rent), ‘reden’ (talk), ‘öffnen’ (open), ‘atmen’ (breathe), ‘zeichnen’ (draw) etc.

Dropping of ‘-e-’ (Base form ends in ‘-eln’ or ‘-ern’)

Verbs occasionally end in ‘-eln’. If that is the case, the ‘-e-’ of the end of the verb stem¹ is dropped in the 1st person singular even before adding the finite suffix. Moreover, the ‘-e-’ disappears from the termination in the 1st and 3rd person plural², which also applies to verbs with base form endings in ‘-ern’. The example verb ‘klingeln’ (to ring) shows this with its stem ‘klingel’:

Additional verbs belonging to the group of ‘-eln’ are ‘lächeln’ (to smile), ‘basteln’ (do handicrafts), ‘sammeln’ (collect), ‘angeln’ (fish), ‘googeln’ (google) and to the group of ‘-ern’ are ‘erinnern’ (to remember), ‘jammern’ (moan), ‘ändern’ (change), ‘feiern’ (celebrate).

* This is the honorific.

Further explanations related to the topic ‘Präsens in the German language’

The following explanations relate to the topic ‘Formation of the German Präsens (Present)’ and may be helpful:

• German verb tenses (Tempora)
• Verbs in German grammar
• The grammatical person in German
• Singular and plural
• Exercise 1 Präsens