A1 · Section 5

The Present Tense, and Verb-Second

The one present tense German has where English has two, the six endings it is built with, the three spellings that bend them, the verbs that move their stem vowel instead, the two ways of addressing a person, and the rule that puts the verb second whatever stands first.

What a verb is

51.A verb names an action or a state. It is the word of the sentence that changes its shape according to who is acting and when.

Der Mann isst.: The man is eating.
Die Frau singt.: The woman is singing.
Das Kind ist klein.: The child is small. — a state rather than an action

The present tense

52.The present tense names what is going on at the time of speaking. German has one present where English has two, so a single German form answers both to he goes and to he is going.

Der Mann isst.: The man eats. / The man is eating.
Ich lerne Deutsch.: I learn German. / I am learning German.
Wir gehen jetzt.: We go now. / We are going now.

[1] Which of the two English sentences renders a German present is decided by the context it stands in, not by anything in the German.

Person and number

53.A German verb is conjugated for person and for number. The first person is the speaker, the second the one spoken to, and the third anyone who is neither; each of the three has a singular and a plural.

Ich singe.: I sing. — 1 sg.
Du singst.: You sing. — 2 sg.
Er singt.: He sings. — 3 sg.
Wir singen.: We sing. — 1 pl.
Ihr singt.: You sing. — 2 pl.
Sie singen.: They sing. — 3 pl.

The personal pronouns in the nominative

54.Six pronouns stand as the subject of a verb, and the polite Sie stands beside them.

ich: I
du: you — one person, familiarly
er, sie, es: he, she, it
wir: we
ihr: you — more than one person, familiarly
sie: they
Sie: you — politely, of one person or of many

The personal pronouns in the nominative
Person	Singular	Plural
1	ich	wir
2	du	ihr
3	er, sie, es	sie

The third person singular has one pronoun per gender, which is the gender of the noun and not the sex of the thing (¶25).

[1] Polite Sie is the same word as sie 'they' and is told from it by the capital, which it keeps wherever it stands in the sentence.

The endings of the present tense

55.An infinitive ends in -en or -n, and what stands in front of that is the stem. The present tense is the stem with six endings: -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en.

kaufen — kauf-: to buy — the stem
ich kaufe: I buy
du kaufst: you buy
er kauft: he buys
wir kaufen: we buy
ihr kauft: you buy
sie kaufen: they buy

kaufen, present
Person	Singular	Plural
1	ich kaufe	wir kaufen
2	du kaufst	ihr kauft
3	er kauft	sie kaufen

Four distinct endings fill the six slots: -t serves the third singular and the second plural, -en the first and third plural.

The first and third person plural

56.The first and third person plural are always one and the same form. In every verb but sein that form is the infinitive itself.

kaufen — wir kaufen, sie kaufen: to buy — we buy, they buy
gehen — wir gehen, sie gehen: to go — we go, they go
sammeln — wir sammeln, sie sammeln: to collect — we collect, they collect — the infinitive ends in -n, and so do both plurals
sein — wir sind, sie sind: to be — we are, they are — the one verb where the form is not the infinitive

[1] This is what settles the -en/-n of ¶55: a verb takes in those two slots whatever its own infinitive ends in (¶59).
[2] A form in -en is on its own ambiguous between the two persons, and the pronoun in front of it is what separates them (¶54).

The -e- before -st and -t

57.A stem ending in -d or -t inserts an -e- in front of the endings -st and -t, which could otherwise not be said. So does a stem ending in -m or -n with a consonant other than l or r before it.

du arbeitest: you work
er arbeitet: he works
ihr arbeitet: you work
du findest: you find
er findet: he finds
du atmest: you breathe

[1] lernen has r in front of its n and takes no -e-: du lernst.
[2] wohnen takes none either, because the h there is the mark of a long vowel and not a consonant (¶16): du wohnst.

The second person after an s-sound

58.A stem ending in an s-sound — -s, -ß, -ss, -x or -z — takes -t alone in the second person singular, because the s of -st has been said already. The second and third persons singular are then one and the same form.

du heißt — er heißt: you are called — he is called
du reist: you travel
du sitzt: you sit
du tanzt: you dance

Infinitives in -eln and -ern

59.An infinitive in -eln or -ern has a stem in -el or -er, and takes -n in the first and third person plural rather than -en. The -e- of an -eln stem drops in the first person singular.

ich sammle: I collect
du sammelst: you collect
wir sammeln: we collect
ich ändere: I change
wir ändern: we change

sammeln, present
Person	Singular	Plural
1	ich sammle	wir sammeln
2	du sammelst	ihr sammelt
3	er sammelt	sie sammeln

Regular and irregular

60.A regular verb builds its present from ¶55 and changes nothing else. An irregular verb departs in the stem and not in the endings: fahren takes exactly the endings of kaufen, and only the vowel of its stem moves.

kaufen: kaufe, kaufst, kauft, kaufen, kauft, kaufen: regular
fahren: fahre, fährst, fährt, fahren, fahrt, fahren: irregular in the stem, regular in the endings
sein: bin, bist, ist, sind, seid, sind: irregular throughout

[1] sein is the one verb of this section whose endings are its own (¶62).

The vowel change in the second and third person singular

61.A body of verbs moves the stem vowel in the second and third person singular and nowhere else: the first person singular, the whole plural and the infinitive keep it as it stands. The changes are a → ä, e → i, e → ie and au → äu.

fahren — du fährst, er fährt: to drive — you drive, he drives — a → ä
sprechen — du sprichst, er spricht: to speak — you speak, he speaks — e → i
lesen — du liest, er liest: to read — you read, he reads — e → ie
laufen — du läufst, er läuft: to run — you run, he runs — au → äu
fahren — ich fahre, wir fahren, ihr fahrt: to drive — I drive, we drive, you drive — the vowel of the infinitive stands everywhere but in the two singular forms

fahren, present
Person	Singular	Plural
1	ich fahre	wir fahren
2	du fährst	ihr fahrt
3	er fährt	sie fahren

The Umlaut sits in two of the six slots and in no other.

The four changes
Change	Infinitive	3 sg.
a → ä	fahren	er fährt
e → i	sprechen	er spricht
e → ie	lesen	er liest
au → äu	laufen	er läuft

[1] essen is where this rule meets ¶58: the vowel moves to i, the stem then ends in -ss, and the second person takes -t alone, so du isst and er isst are one form. lesen does the same with ie.

sein

62.sein shares no stem with its endings and is taken whole.

Ich bin Lehrer.: I am a teacher.
Du bist zu Hause.: You are at home.
Die Kinder sind klein.: The children are small.

sein, present
Person	Singular	Plural
1	ich bin	wir sind
2	du bist	ihr seid
3	er ist	sie sind

haben

63.haben follows ¶55 except in the second and third person singular, which drop the -b of the stem.

Ich habe Zeit.: I have time.
Du hast Geld.: You have money.
Er hat ein Buch.: He has a book.

haben, present
Person	Singular	Plural
1	ich habe	wir haben
2	du hast	ihr habt
3	er hat	sie haben

du, ihr and Sie

64.German distinguishes the person addressed familiarly from the person addressed formally. du is the familiar singular and ihr its plural; Sie is the formal address for one person and for many alike, and takes the third person plural form of the verb.

Was machst du?: What are you doing? — one person, familiarly
Was macht ihr?: What are you doing? — more than one, familiarly
Was machen Sie?: What are you doing? — formally, of one or of many

The three ways of saying *you*
Pronoun	Whom it addresses	The verb's form
du	one person, familiarly	2 sg. — machst
ihr	more than one, familiarly	2 pl. — macht
Sie	one or many, formally	3 pl. — machen

English you covers all three, so an English sentence does not say which is meant.

man

65.man is a subject that names nobody in particular, answering to English one, you or people. It takes the third person singular.

Hier spricht man Deutsch.: German is spoken here.
Man isst hier gut.: One eats well here.
Was macht man da?: What does one do there?

[1] man is a pronoun and not the noun der Mann (¶8 gives the capital that would tell them apart in writing).

The verb stands second

66.In a statement the conjugated verb is the second element of the sentence. What stands first need not be the subject, and when something else stands there the subject follows the verb.

Ich gehe heute nach Hause.: I am going home today.
Heute gehe ich nach Hause.: Today I am going home.
Nach Hause gehe ich heute.: Home is where I am going today.

[1] The first element is one element however many words it takes: nach Hause is a single position, not two.
[2] Heute ich gehe nach Hause is not German, because it puts the verb third.

The complement in the nominative

67.sein, heißen and werden take no object. What follows them names the subject over again, and stands in the nominative.

Er heißt Heinz Bartels.: His name is Heinz Bartels.
Das ist der Lehrer.: That is the teacher.
Er wird Arzt.: He is becoming a doctor. — no article, by ¶45

The predicative adjective

68.An adjective standing after sein, werden or bleiben takes no ending, whatever the gender and the number of its subject.

Das Buch ist neu.: The book is new.
Die Bücher sind neu.: The books are new. — the plural subject changes nothing
Das Haus ist klein.: The house is small.
Die Kinder sind klein.: The children are small.

Vocabulary

sein: to be · verb; du bist, er ist; Irregular throughout (¶62).
haben: to have · verb; du hast, er hat; Regular but for the two singular forms that drop the -b (¶63).
werden: to become · verb; du wirst, er wird
kaufen: to buy · verb; du kaufst, er kauft
machen: to do, to make · verb; du machst, er macht
wohnen: to live, to dwell · verb; du wohnst, er wohnt; No -e- before the ending: the h marks a long vowel and is not a consonant (¶57, ¶16).
lernen: to learn · verb; du lernst, er lernt; No -e- before the ending, because r stands before the n (¶57).
gehen: to go · verb; du gehst, er geht
singen: to sing · verb; du singst, er singt
arbeiten: to work · verb; du arbeitest, er arbeitet; The stem ends in -t, so an -e- comes before the ending (¶57).
finden: to find · verb; du findest, er findet; The stem ends in -d, so an -e- comes before the ending (¶57).
heißen: to be called · verb; du heißt, er heißt; The two singular forms are identical, the stem ending in an s-sound (¶58).
sammeln: to collect · verb; du sammelst, er sammelt; 1 sg. ich sammle; 1 and 3 pl. wir/sie sammeln (¶59).
fahren: to drive, to travel · verb; du fährst, er fährt; a → ä in the two singular forms (¶61).
sprechen: to speak · verb; du sprichst, er spricht; e → i in the two singular forms (¶61).
lesen: to read · verb; du liest, er liest; e → ie, and the stem then ends in an s-sound, so the two forms fall together (¶61, ¶58).
essen: to eat · verb; du isst, er isst; e → i, and the stem then ends in -ss, so the two forms fall together (¶61, ¶58).
laufen: to run · verb; du läufst, er läuft; au → äu in the two singular forms (¶61).
man: one, you, people · pronoun; Takes the third person singular (¶65).
neu: new · adjective; The form does not change after sein, werden or bleiben (¶68).
klein: small · adjective; The form does not change after sein, werden or bleiben (¶68).
langweilig: boring · adjective; The form does not change after sein, werden or bleiben (¶68).

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