I mentioned previously (in Lessons from the Top German verbs list) that the 3 most common verbs in German are the ones also used as auxiliaries: sein, haben and werden. Let’s take a look at how they function in the context of German verb tenses.
German has 6 tenses: 2 finite tenses, i.e. tenses that are formed using just the main verb, and 4 compound tenses, i.e. tenses that are formed using the main verb plus one or more auxiliary verbs.
The finite tenses:
- Present tense [Präsens] = Based on the infinitive form, perhaps with a present tense stem change.
- Simple past tense [Präteritum] = Created from the simple past stem.
The compound tenses:
- Future tense [Futur I] = werden + infinitive of main verb
- Present perfect tense [Perfekt] = present tense of haben or sein + past participle of main verb
- Past perfect tense [Plusquamperfekt] = simple past tense of haben or sein + past participle of main verb
- Future perfect tense [Futur II] = werden + past participle of main verb + the infinitive haben or sein
In addition to their active voice usage, these same 6 tenses can also occur in the passive voice, though only the present, simple past and present perfect tense occur very frequently in German. The passive voice requires the combination of the auxiliary werden + a past participle in addition to whatever else a given tense requires.
- Present tense = present tense of werden + past participle of the main verb
- Simple past tense = simple past tense of werden + past participle of the main verb
- Present perfect tense = present tense of sein + past participle of the main verb + passive past participle variant worden
So in addition to understanding how auxiliary verbs figure in each of the tenses, it is also necessary to know the various parts of the main verb that are used in the formation of the tenses. Let’s examine the principal parts of German verbs that are used in building all of the verb tenses:
- the infinitive – The basic form of any verb, as it appears in a dictionary entry. The infinitive stem = the infinitive minus -(e)n.
- (present tense stem change)– Some strong and mixed verbs change some letters in their stem in some or all present tense singular forms. Most verbs do not have this change — none of the weak verbs have it — but many of the verbs that do have the change are very common words.
- simple past stem – The simple past stems of all weak verbs are predictable and can be formed from the infinitive stem. But the simple past stems of strong and mixed verbs are unpredictable and need to be learned.
- past participle – The past participles of weak verbs all follow the same pattern. The strong and mixed verbs have unpredictable past participles that must be learned.
Thus, the principal parts of any weak verb look similar to this:
machen, machte, gemacht
sagen, sagte, gesagt
arbeiten, arbeitete, gearbeitet
handeln, handelte, gehandelt
Strong and mixed verb patterns have some commonalities but also many differences. Stem changes are marked in red:
kommen, kam, gekommen
gehen, ging, gegangen
laufen (läuft), lief, gelaufen
sprechen (spricht), sprach, gesprochen
geben (gibt), gab, gegeben
können (kann), konnte, gekonnt
wissen (weiß), wusste, gewusst
kennen, kannte, gekannt
Clearly, the weak verbs can be recognized in any tense if you know just the infinitive form. On the other hand, because the strong and mixed verbs have unpredictable stem changes, knowing the principal parts of the most common strong and mixed verbs can be a useful tool in understanding German sentences.
Let’s pull it all together now with some examples. In the following sentences, you can see how the principle parts and the auxiliaries work together to produce German verb tenses.
| weak verb | strong verb | |
| ACTIVE VOICE | ||
| Present: | Er sagt … He says (is saying, does say) … | Er gibt… He gives (is giving, does give) … |
| Simple past: | Er sagte … He said … | Er gab … He gave … |
| Future: | Er wird … sagen. He will say … | Er wird … geben. He will give … |
| Present Perfect: | Er hat … gesagt. He said (has said) … | Er hat … gegeben. He gave (has given) … |
| Past Perfect: | Er hatte … gesagt. He had said … | Er hatte … gegeben. He had given … |
| Future Perfect: | Er wird … gesagt haben. He will have said … | Er wird … gegeben haben. He will have given … |
| PASSIVE VOICE | ||
| Present: | Es wird … gesagt. It is said … | Es wird … gegeben. It is given … |
| Simple past: | Es wurde … gesagt. It was said … | Es wurde … gegeben. It was given … |
| Present perfect: | Es ist … gesagt worden. It has been said … | Es ist … gegeben worden. It has been given … |
Alles klar?
How about the rules in conjugation of verbs in German verbs ending in en iern eln and other verb endings
All German verbs end in -n or -en and the rules don’t change based on these endings. Irregularity generally isn’t determined by their endings, though the following generalizations do apply:
(1) Verbs that end in -ern, -eln, or just -n (without a preceding -e-), drop only the -n from the stem before adding suffixes of any kind. This includes verbs like wandern, erinnern, sammeln, entwickeln, tun. Where other verbs add -en in their conjugations, (1st and 3rd person plural forms: wir sagen, sie sagen), these verbs add only -n (wir sammeln, sie sammeln).
(2) Verbs that end in -ern or -eln are all weak verbs and follow regular conjugation patterns in all verb tenses.
(3) Verbs that end in -n without a preceding -e- (and are not -eln or -ern verbs) are few. Only sein and tun come to mind. Both are strong verbs and have stem changes in their principal parts, though tun looks regular in the present tense: ich tue, du tust, er/sie/es tut, wir tun, ihr tut, Sie/sie tun. The verb sein is the most irregular of all verbs in German and should simply be memorized. Especially its present tense forms are anomalous (ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist, wir sind, ihr seid, Sie/sie sind).
(4) -ieren verbs of non-Germanic origin are all weak. (This means verlieren and frieren are exceptions — they are of Germanic origin.) These are regular except in the perfect tense where they omit the ge- in their past participle: studieren (perfect tense: hat studiert), telefonieren (hat telefoniert), passieren (ist passiert).
In sum, the rules of conjugation don’t align with the endings of verb infinitives like in some other languages. However, this is because in German all verb infinitives actually have the same ending: -n. German has only one basic pattern of conjugation in the present tense with a few variations for irregular verbs. It is the principal parts of verbs in German that show whether a verb is weak or strong and this feature determines its conjugation in the simple past and perfect tenses.
Thank you very much :-)
Sure thing! :)
Good page but it does not have many words
This isn’t meant to be exhaustive, but rather to provide a brief explanation of how German verb tenses work. For more verbs, try the Top 100 German Verbs page, the post on Lessons from the Top German Verbs list, or the page on Principal Parts of German Verbs for more information on how the verb system works in German.
Thank you, so very much! It is wonderful place to learn German! Very helpful and interesting!
I would like to have a list of the verbs, present form, past form and future form along with formulas and meaning in English. I tried a lot but I couldn’t find..
I think this may be what you are looking for.
http://amzn.to/25z3vOF
There are also several online verb conjugators, such as this one: http://www.verbix.com/languages/german.shtml. However, not all have English translations.
Hello, what tense is when you say: “Das Auto wurde gebracht worden.” Thank you
That is not a valid construction in German. You can say: Das Auto ist gebracht worden. OR Das Auto wurde gebracht.
Please can you tell me what tense this is in German.
Wir haben die Sonne genießen können.
Hi Tracey,
That is the perfect tense. Modal verbs use a double infinitive instead of a past participle at the end of the sentence in the perfect tenses. You can read more about that here. Scroll down to the section on the perfect tenses. :)
seher gut
it is too good for learning a new language
This is really helpful and good explained. I liked the way of teaching.
I request you to please send or share the list of in all verb of tenses.
I really needful.
Thank you
Thank you for providing this learning material. I like how the concepts are presented very concisely and to the point. Consider adding more examples.
would like to have all the list of regular verbs.
Thank you.
I need to know how to form a sentence. Your teaching is really helpful. Vielen Dank
Wir brauchen Deutschsprache.
can you write them in german too? The finite tenses and the compound tenses, please. Thanks.
Thanks for the useful suggestion. I’ve added the German names of the tenses.