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| The Present & Preterite Tenses - German for English SpeakersGerman for English Speakers | https://germanforenglishspeakers.com/verbs/present-and-simple-past | 2026-06-30 |
The Present & Preterite Tenses - German for English SpeakersGerman for English Speakers
The Present & Preterite Tenses
The Präsens and Präteritum are the two "fully conjugated" forms in German (that is, they don't use an auxiliary verb), so it's good to learn them together. Here’s the weak verb kaufen (to buy):
Präsens
Präteritum
singular
1st
ich
kaufe
I buy
ich
kaufte
I bought
2nd
du
kaufst
you buy
du
kauftest
you bought
3rd
er/sie/es
kauft
he/she/it buys
er/sie/es
kaufte
he/she/it bought
plural
1st
wir
kaufen
we buy
wir
kauften
we bought
2nd
ihr
kauft
you (pl.) buy
ihr
kauftet
you (pl.) bought
3rd
sie/Sie
kaufen
they buy
sie/Sie
kauften
they bought
Notice the pattern: the "en" ending of the infinitive is removed (sometimes it’s just an "n") and replaced with the appropriate highlighted ending. The past tense endings are mostly just the present tense endings with an extra t; this is the “weak” past tense ending mentioned in V.I, and it’s directly related to the –d ending in the weak English past tense.
These twelve endings are used for every weak verb in German, without exception. Some of them are hard to pronounce if the verb has certain consonants at the end of the stem; in this case an e is added in between the stem and the ending. For example, here is the weak verb reden (to talk). Notice how without the extra e it would be harder to distinguish among these forms:
Präsens
Präteritum
singular
1st
ich
rede
I talk
ich
redete
I talked
2nd
du
redest
you talk
du
redetest
you talked
3rd
er/sie/es
redet
he/she/it talks
er/sie/es
redete
he/she/it talked
plural
1st
wir
reden
we talk
wir
redeten
we talked
2nd
ihr
redet
you (pl) talk
ihr
redetet
you (pl) talked
3rd
sie/Sie
reden
they talk
sie/Sie
redeten
they talked
Also notice that the Sie form, the formal second person that we learned about in Section 4, is conjugated exactly the same as the third person plural (“they”). This is true for all tenses and moods, and for all types of verbs.
Strong verbs are a little different. Remember that strong verbs form their past tense with a vowel shift rather than an added t; some of them also have a (different) vowel shift in the present tense, but only in the 2nd and 3rd person singular. There’s no one rule for these vowel shifts -- you have to learn them when you learn the verb, just as you once learned to say "broke" instead of "breaked" in English. Here’s the strong verb fallen (to fall):
STRONG VERBS
Präsens
Präteritum
singular
1st
ich
falle
I fall
ich
fiel
I fell
2nd
du
fällst
you fall
du
fielst
you fell
3rd
er/sie/es
fällt
he/she/it falls
er/sie/es
fiel
he/she/it fell
plural
1st
wir
fallen
we fall
wir
fielen
we fell
2nd
ihr
fallt
you (pl) fall
ihr
fielt
you (pl) fell
3rd
sie/Sie
fallen
they fall
sie/Sie
fielen
they fell
Notice that the present tense endings are the same as for weak verbs. Also notice that with both strong and weak verbs, the 1st and 3rd person singular are the same in the past tense, and the 1st and 3rd person plural (we and they) are the same in both tenses.
Now let’s try a mixed verb. Remember that there are only a few of these, and they combine the strong past stem changes with the weak past endings. Mixed verbs do not have the strong vowel shift in the present tense, except for wissen (which becomes weiß). Here is bringen (to bring):
MIXED VERBS
Präsens
Präteritum
singular
1st
ich
bringe
I bring
ich
brachte
I brought
2nd
du
bringst
you bring
du
brachtest
you brought
3rd
er/sie/es
bringt
he/she/it brings
er/sie/es
brachte
he/she/it brought
plural
1st
wir
bringen
we bring
wir
brachten
we brought
2nd
ihr
bringt
you (pl) bring
ihr
brachtet
you (pl) brought
3rd
sie/Sie
bringen
they bring
sie/Sie
brachten
they brought
Modal verbs are irregular in the present singular tenses, and weak in the plural:
MODAL VERBS: Präsens
dürfen
können
mögen
müssen
sollen
wollen
singular
1st
ich
darf
kann
mag
muss
soll
will
2nd
du
darfst
kannst
magst
musst
sollst
willst
3rd
er/sie/es
darf
kann
mag
muss
soll
will
plural
1st
wir
dürfen
können
mögen
müssen
sollen
wollen
2nd
ihr
dürft
könnt
mögt
müsst
sollt
wollt
3rd
sie/Sie
dürfen
können
mögen
müssen
sollen
wollen
You may have guessed that the English modal verbs can and must are directly related to these forms. So is will, but be careful, because the way we use it in modern English translates to werden rather than wollen. Ich werde es tun means I will do it, while Ich will es tun means I want to do it.
The modal verbs have weak endings in the past tense, but they lose their umlauts and mögen has a stem change:
MODAL VERBS: Präteritum
dürfen
können
mögen
müssen
sollen
wollen
singular
1st
ich
durfte
konnte
mochte
musste
sollte
wollte
2nd
du
durftest
konntest
mochtest
musstest
solltest
wolltest
3rd
er/sie/es
durfte
konnte
mochte
musste
sollte
wollte
plural
1st
wir
durften
konnten
mochten
mussten
sollten
wollten
2nd
ihr
durftet
konntet
mochtet
musstet
solltet
wolltet
3rd
sie/Sie
durften
konnten
mochten
mussten
sollten
wollten
Finally, the three auxiliary verbs are almost completely irregular, especially sein:
AUXILIARY VERBS
sein
haben
werden
Präs.
Prät.
Präs.
Prät.
Präs.
Prät.
singular
1st
ich
bin
war
habe
hatte
werde
wurde
2nd
du
bist
warst
hast
hattest
wirst
wurdest
3rd
er/sie/es
ist
war
hat
hatte
wird
wurde
plural
1st
wir
sind
waren
haben
hatten
werden
wurden
2nd
ihr
seid
wart
habt
hattet
werdet
wurdet
3rd
sie/Sie
sind
waren
haben
hatten
werden
wurden