A2 · Tenses
What the present tense covers
one tense, four jobs
Now, always, tomorrow and since when — all of it in one form.
The German present does more work than any English tense, and listing its jobs is more useful than any rule about forming it. It covers what is true now, what is generally true, what is happening at this moment, what is planned for later, and what began in the past and is still going on.
The last of those is the one English speakers get wrong most often. Ich wohne seit drei Jahren hier — present tense — is "I have been living here for three years". The situation is still true, and German marks present truth with the present. Using a past tense there says you no longer live here.
The future is the second. Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin is the ordinary way to say it; ich werde fahren is reserved for predictions and promises. A time word is enough to place the sentence in the future, and German prefers it to a tense.
Die Form
| right now | Ich lese gerade. |
| generally | Wasser kocht bei hundert Grad. |
| planned | Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin. |
| since when | Ich wohne seit drei Jahren hier. |
| a story told vividly | Da kommt er herein und sagt ... |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
One present tense covers "I work" and "I am working".
Ich arbeite gerade an dem Bericht.I am working on the report at the moment.
With a time word the present is the ordinary future.
Nächste Woche fängt der Kurs an.The course starts next week.
seit plus present says how long something has been going on.
Wir kennen uns seit der Schulzeit.We have known each other since school.
A time word is what places the sentence — the tense does not have to.
Ich rufe dich heute Abend an.I will call you this evening.
Genauer hingesehen
What German gives up by having no progressive
English distinguishes "I work" from "I am working" grammatically, and German cannot. What it loses is a shade of aspect; what it gains is that a learner never has to choose. Where the distinction matters, German reaches for a word — gerade, im Moment, immer — rather than a form.
There is one regional exception worth recognising. In the Rhineland and increasingly elsewhere, speakers say ich bin am Arbeiten, which is a real progressive built from a preposition and a nominalised infinitive. It is spoken German rather than written German, and it shows the language filling a gap it was said not to have.
Ausnahmen und Sonderfälle (2)
-
the sentence is a promise, a threat or a firm prediction
werden is used even with a time word.
Ich werde das nicht vergessen.I will not forget that.
The marked form carries the commitment; the present would state a plan rather than give a word.
-
a story is being told vividly
German switches into the present in the middle of a past narrative.
Und da kommt er herein und sagt kein Wort.And then in he comes and says nothing.
The historical present is a storytelling device in German as in English, and rather commoner in speech.
Woran man es erkennt
- gerade
- im Moment
- immer
- morgen
- nächste Woche
- seit
- schon
Beispielsätze
Sie lernt seit einem Jahr Deutsch.She has been learning German for a year.
Der Zug fährt in fünf Minuten.The train leaves in five minutes.
Ich koche gerade.I am cooking at the moment.
Im Sommer wird es hier sehr warm.It gets very warm here in summer.
Wir ziehen im Herbst um.We are moving house in the autumn.
Noch 8 Beispielsätze
Ich bin seit einer Stunde hier.I have been here for an hour.
Wie lange lernst du schon Deutsch?How long have you been learning German?
Der Laden macht um acht auf.The shop opens at eight.
Sie arbeitet seit Januar in Frankfurt.She has been working in Frankfurt since January.
Ich komme gleich.I am coming in a moment.
Übermorgen fliegen wir zurück.We fly back the day after tomorrow.
Das Konzert beginnt um acht.The concert starts at eight.
Wir warten schon eine halbe Stunde.We have been waiting half an hour.
Besonderheiten (2)
-
schon and erst change the whole sentence
<z>Ich lerne schon drei Jahre Deutsch</z> says three years is a long time; <z>ich lerne erst drei Jahre Deutsch</z> says it is not long. Same tense, same number, opposite attitude — and English needs a phrase for both ("already", "only"). It is one of the cheapest ways to sound like a speaker rather than a learner.
Ich bin erst seit gestern hier.I only got here yesterday.
-
A timetable is always present tense
Departures, opening times, appointments and programmes take the present in German exactly as they do in English: <z>der Zug fährt um acht</z>, <z>das Konzert beginnt um neun</z>. This is the one corner where the two languages agree completely, so it is worth using as an anchor.
Der Bus fährt jede halbe Stunde.The bus runs every half hour.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
The English perfect pushes a German perfect across, and the meaning flips: ich habe gewohnt says you have moved away. German reasons that if the situation is still true, it is present, and marks it with the present tense. Seit is the reliable signal — wherever it appears, the verb is almost always in the present.
Still true, still present. seit takes the present tense.
Jetzt selbst
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