German Tenses - Introduction
How to use German tenses
Introduction
There are six tenses in German: Present, Perfect, Imperfect, Past Perfect, Future I and Future II. Here you will learn when to use these tenses.
Overview of German tenses with verb conjugations
The German language has six tenses: Present, Perfect, Imperfect, Past Perfect, Future I and Future II. Here is an overview of the rules of regular and irregular conjugation of verbs in the different tenses.
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Present tense
The present tense is the most used tense in German. We use this tense mainly to speak about the present and the future.
Example:
Ich lerne, I learn
Ich sehe, I see
Past tense / Imperfect
The past tense is used to express facts and doings in the past. We use this tense for narratives and reporting, especially in written language.
Example:
Ich lernte, I learned
Ich sah, I saw
Futur Tense I
We use the Future Tense I mainly to describe an intention for the future or an assumption for the present/future.
Example:
Ich werde lernen, I will learn
Ich werde sehen, I will see
Perfect tense
We use the perfect tense to express that an action was completed in the past, focusing on the result or consequence of the action.
Example:
Ich habe gelernt, I have learned
Ich habe gesehen, I have seen
Past Perfect Tense
We use the Past Perfect Tense when talking about the past (in the past tense) and looking back at something that happened earlier.
Example:
Ich hatte gesehen, I had learned
Ich hatte gesehen, I had seen
Futur tense II
The future tense II expresses an assumption that an action will be completed at the time of the expression or at a later time.
Example:
Ich werde gelernt haben, I will have learned
Ich werde gesehen haben, I will have seen
Example sentences
in Present, Perfect, Imperfect, Past Perfect, Future I and Future II.
Present: Ich habe Hunger.
Imperfect: Ich hatte Hunger.
Present Perfect: Ich habe Hunger gehabt.
Past perfect: Ich hatte Hunger gehabt.
Futur I: Ich werde Hunger haben.
Futur II: Ich werde Hunger gehabt haben.
Present: Ich lerne Deutsch.
Imperfect: Ich lernte Deutsch.
Present Perfect: Ich habe Deutsch gelernt.
Past perfect: Ich hatte Deutsch gelernt .
Futur I: Ich werde Deutsch lernen.
Futur II: Ich werde Deutsch gelernt haben.
Present: Ich bin verliebt.
Imperfect: Ich war verliebt.
Present Perfect: Ich bin verliebt gewesen.
Past perfect: Ich war verliebt gewesen.
Futur I: Ich werde verliebt sein.
Futur II:Ich werde verliebt gewesen sein.
