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German grammar · A1

German Present Tense: How Verb Conjugation Works

German verbs change their ending according to who is doing the action. There is one set of endings to learn, a small group of verbs that also change their stem vowel, and one habit English speakers have to drop: German has no separate continuous form.

The endings

Take the infinitive, remove -en, and add the ending. For wohnen: ich wohne, du wohnst, er wohnt, wir wohnen, ihr wohnt, sie wohnen.

Two spelling adjustments follow automatically. A stem ending in -t or -d inserts an e so the ending is pronounceable: du arbeitest. A stem ending in an s-sound loses the s of -st: du heißt, not heißst.

Verbs that change their stem vowel

A group of common verbs change their vowel in the du and er/sie/es forms only. Fahren becomes du fährst, er fährt. Sprechen becomes du sprichst. Lesen becomes du liest.

The ich, wir and sie forms are unaffected, which is why learners often produce these verbs correctly in the first person and incorrectly in the third.

One present tense, two English ones

Ich arbeite covers both I work and I am working. There is no German equivalent of the -ing construction, and attempting to build one produces sentences no German speaker would say.

The present also does duty as a future tense whenever a time expression makes the timing clear: Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin is the normal way to say what you will do tomorrow. The dedicated future form exists but is used far less than English speakers expect.

Examples

• Ich komme aus Deutschland.I come from Germany.
• Er fährt morgen nach Berlin.He is driving to Berlin tomorrow.

Mistakes to avoid

Most errors are a missing stem change in the du and er forms, or an ending borrowed from the wrong person. Both are small in writing and very audible in speech.

• ✗ ich spreche → du sprechst✓ du sprichst
• ✗ er arbeitt✓ er arbeitet
• ✗ wir sprechen leiser (gemeint: Präsens)✓ wir sprechen leise (nicht: wir sprichen)

How this is tested in the exam

The present tense is the backbone of the whole A1 exam. Every Sprechen answer and nearly every Schreiben sentence uses it, so an unreliable ending is not an isolated error — it recurs throughout the paper and pulls down the accuracy mark each time.

Frequently asked questions

What are the German present tense endings?

-e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en for ich, du, er/sie/es, wir, ihr and sie/Sie. They attach to the verb stem, which is the infinitive minus -en.

Does German have a continuous tense like I am working?

No. Ich arbeite means both I work and I am working. There is no separate -ing construction, and building one is a common English speaker error.

Which German verbs change their vowel in the present?

A group of common strong verbs, including fahren, sprechen, lesen, essen, nehmen, sehen and geben. The change happens only in the du and er/sie/es forms.

Can the present tense be used for the future in German?

Yes, and it usually is. With a time expression such as morgen or nächste Woche, the present is the natural way to talk about the future.