German Tenses—an Overview Part IV.1

When do you use which tense in German?

Infinitiv == (infinitive)

The infinitive is used in combination with modal verbs, and sometimes as a noun (like the present participle in English, e.g. “Lesen macht mir großen Spaß.”->”I enjoy reading very much.”).

Indikativ == Indicative Mode

Präsens == (simple present)

Präsens is used to talk about facts, and about events in the present. It is also often used to talk about future events like plans, or timetables (e.g. “Es regnet.” = “It rains.” or “Ich fahre morgen in den Urlaub.” = “I am going to go on holidays tomorrow.”).

Präteritum == (simple past)

Präteritum is used to talk about events which lie in the past (e.g. “König Luois XIV war ein französischer Herrscher.” = “King Luois XIV was a French regent.”).

Perfekt == (present perfect)

Perfekt is used to talk about events which started in the past and still have effect in the present (e.g. “Ich habe angefangen, ein Buch zu schreiben.” = “I started to write a book.” [I’m still writing on it] or “Ich habe heute Morgen in der Schule geschlafen.” = “I have slept in school this morning.” [and that’s why I don’t know what the teacher talked about]).

Note: In German, the rules for using Präteritum or Perfekt are not as strict as the English rules regarding simple past and present perfect.

Plusquamperfekt == (past perfect)

Plusquamperfekt is used for events that took place even before another event in the past (e.g. “Ich hatte Wein gekauft, bevor ich zu ihm fuhr.” = “I had bought wine before I went to see him.”). It is most often found in fiction since many works of fiction are written in the past tense.

Futur I == (future I)

Futur I is used to talk about events which will take place in the future (e.g. “Morgen werde ich mich mit meiner besten Freundin treffen.” = “Tomorrow, I will meet my best friend.”).

Futur II == (future II)

Futur II is used to talk about events which will have taken place (they are already finished) at a certain point in the future (e.g. “Bis morgen Abend werde ich das Auto repariert haben.” = “By tomorrow evening, I will have repaired the car.”).

Note: German does not have a progressive form of the tenses. Sentences like “It is raining.” would be translated using the simple form of the appropriate tense and an adverb like “(jetzt) gerade” (~now) or “im Moment” (~at the moment) = “Es regnet gerade.”

Next week, I will give you the last part of my German Tense Overview. Don't miss it!