Using Tenses in German – Learn Easy Way / Der Gebrauch der Zeitenformen

In this lesson, you will learn how to use tenses in German.

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CONTENTS

Tenses in German
The tenses and their use in German
Present and future
Past and perfect
‘Up-to-now’sentences

Tenses in German

The tense of a verb indicates the time when an action or event occurs. In German, there are six verb tenses:

1. Two simple tenses:

1. Present Tense (Präsens): This tense consists of a single word form,which is the main verb.
2. Past Tense (Präteritum): This is also represented by a single word form,which is the main verb.

2. Four compound tenses:

1. Perfect Tense (Perfekt): is formed using the present tense of  “haben” or “sein” combined with the past participle of the main verb.
2. Pluperfect Tense (Plusquamperfekt): is created from the past tense of “haben” or “sein” along with the past participle of the main verb.
3. Future Tense (Futur I): is constructed using the present tense of “werden” plus the infinitive form of the main verb.
4. Future Perfect Tense (Futur II): is formed using the present tense of “werden” combined with the infinitive forms of “haben” or “sein” and the past participle of the main verb.

German does not have progressive or continuous tenses like the English phrases “I am sitting” or “I have been learning.”

It’s important to note the different order of parts in the future perfect tense in English. In simple tenses, the main verb and in compound tenses, the auxiliary verb, have endings that link them to the subject. This means that the verb agrees with the subject. The form of the verb that shows this agreement is known as the finite verb (in the table, this is represented by the verb in red).

On the other hand, the verb forms that do not have these endings, such as the infinitive and past participle, are referred to as non-finite forms of the verb.

The tenses and their use in German

As mentioned in the previous section, there are six tenses of the verb in German. These correspond closely in both form and use to the six English tenses.

Let’s see, how it looks like:

Although German does not have the same extensive verb forms as English, its use of tenses is generally similar. In German, there is no specific progressive tense to indicate ongoing actions, as there is in English. Instead, adverbials like “gerade” are utilized for this purpose.

For example:
Ich lerne gerade Deutsch. – I’m learning German.
Er kochte gerade Kaffee, als seine Frau nach Hause kam. –  He was making coffee when his wife came home.

Aside from this difference, the tenses in German function similarly to their corresponding tenses in English.

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Grammar Contents

Present and Future

The present tense is primarily used, as in English, to express actions occurring in the present or to make generalizations.

For example:
Ich gehe jeden Montag ins Fitnesstudio.- I go to the gym every Monday.
Ich telefoniere  jeden Abend mit meinem Freund. – I talk to my boyfriend on the phone every evening.

In German, the present tense is often employed to indicate future events, provided that the future meaning is clear from the context, typically through the use of time adverbials.

For example:
Ich bin in einer Stunde da. – I’ll be there in an hour.
Nächste Woche fahren wir nach Frankreich .- Next week we are going to France.

Unlike English, German does not have an equivalent to the “going to” future.

For example:
I’m going to visit my aunt tomorrow.  – Ich besuche meine Tante morgen.

The future tense is used much less frequently in German than in English. It is mainly employed to refer to future events where the present tense could lead to misunderstanding.

For example:
Wir werden wieder in der Vorstadt wohnen. – We are going to live in the suburbs again.
“Wir wohnen wieder in der Vorstadt.” can only mean. – We lieve in the suburbs again.

In both English and German, the future tense may indicate not that something is going to happen in the future, but that the speaker supposes that something has happened, is happening, or will happen.

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In both English and German, the future tense can also express the speaker’s assumption that something has happened, is happening, or will happen. (often with the modal particle wohl)

For example:
Er wird (wohl) wieder krank sein. – He’ll be ill again./I expect she’s ill again.

The future perfect is also commonly used to express a supposition about the past.

For example:

Er wird (wohl) krank gewesen sein. – He’ll have been ill./ I expect he was ill.
She wird den Termin vergessen haben. – I expect she forgot the appointment.

In German, the perfect tense is often used in contexts like these rather than the future perfect.
For exemple:
Er ist (wohl) krank gewesen. – I expect he was ill.
Bis morgen hat er die E-Mail geschrieben. – By tomorrow he will have written the e-mail.

Past and Perfect

There are significant differences between English and German in their use of the perfect tense. In English, the perfect tense is clearly distinct from the past tense, as it connects a past action to the present in some way.

For example:

– “I’ve broken my arm” (indicating the current situation, as seen with the plaster).
– “I broke my arm hiking” (implying that it has healed).

In contrast, the German perfect tense is not as distinctly different in meaning and use from the past tense; their uses often overlap.

Similar to English, the German perfect tense frequently describes a present state that results from a past action.
For example:
Ich habe sie schon angerufen. – I’ve already called her.
Ich habe den Finger verletzt. – I’ve injured my finger.

In contrast to English, the German Perfekt tense is often used to refer to an action or event that is completely in the past.
In English, a past tense is always used in such contexts.
For example:
Ich habe ihn letztes Wochenende im Theater getroffen. – I met him in the theater last weekend.
Letzten Monat hat er noch im Ausland studiert. – Last month he was still studying abroad.

In written German, the past tense narrates past actions or events. In spoken German, the perfect tense is more commonly used in such contexts.

WRITTEN GERMAN	1950 ging sie nach Frankreich, wo sie für Madam Coco arbeitete. 1960 gründete sie ihr eigenes Unternehmen.
SPOKEN GERMAN	1950 ist sie nach Frankreich gegangen, wo sie für Madam Coco gearbeitet hat. 1960 hat sie ihr eigenes Unternehmen gegründet.
ENGLISH	In 1950, she went to France, where she worked for Madame Coco. In 1960 , she founded her own company.

The perfect tense is commonly used in speech in various contexts, but the past tense is also frequently encountered. The past tense is especially prevalent in northern Germany and with common verbs such as “sein,” “haben,” “gehen,” “kommen,” and the modal auxiliaries “dürfen,” “können,” “mögen,” “müssen,” “sollen,” and “wollen.”

In both spoken and written German, you will often find these two tenses used interchangeably.

‘Up-to-now’ sentences

In sentences that talk about time up to now, usually using “for” or “since,” we use the perfect tense in English, often in a progressive form. In contrast, German consistently uses the present tense in these contexts, usually with “seit” (since) or “schon” (already).

For example:

Ich lebe seit 3 Monaten in diesem Dorf. – I’ve been living in this village for 3 months.
Sie gehen seit zwei Jahren miteinander. – They have been dating for two years.
Ich warte schon eine halbe Stunde auf dich! – I’ve been waiting for you for half an hour!

This highlights the difference in tense usage between the two languages for ongoing actions that began in the past and continue into the present.

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