Verb forms in the present tense

In English, verbs take no endings except for the third person singular in the present tense, but German has more endings for verbs in the present tense than English.

Verb formation in the present tense

The formation of the verb in the present tense is easys: You take the stem of a verb and then add the required ending. The stem is the form of the infinitive without -en or -n.

 

Person
stem + Ending
ich (“I”)
e
du (“you”, informal use)
st
Sie (“you”, formal use)
en
er/sie/es (“he/she/it)
t
wir (“we”)
en
ihr (“you”, informal use)
t
Sie (“you”, formal use)
en
sie (“they”)
en

Example:
The german word “kommen” (English: to come). The stem is the form of the infinitive without -en or -n, so the stem of “kommen” is “komm”.

 

Person
stem + Ending
ich (“I”)
komme
du (“you”, informal use)
kommst
Sie (“you”, formal use)
kommen
er/sie/es (“he/she/it)
kommt
wir (“we”)
kommen
ihr (“you”, informal use)
kommt
Sie (“you”, formal use)
kommen
sie (“they”)
kommen

Note:
Most verbs in German follow this regular pattern where the ending is simply added to the stem of the verb. But there are some German verbs where the stem ends in -d or -t or ends in a consonant + n or m and verbs with stem endings in -s, -ss, -ß, -x, -z, -tz (they have a different pattern). There are also irregular verbs with vowel changes.


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Autor: , Letzte Aktualisierung: 22. Oktober 2021