Present Tense - German regular verbs
© Dave Nutting
The verb has an ending which matches the subject ("doer" of the verb action). Endings are highlighted here in red.
| spielen | to play | |
| ich (I) |
spiele | I play |
| du (you, informal) |
spielst | You play |
| er / sie /
es (he / she / it) |
spielt | He / She / It plays |
| wir (we) |
spielen | We play |
| ihr (you, informal, plural) |
spielt | You play |
| sie (they) |
spielen | They play |
| Sie (you, formal) |
spielen | You play |
Great! The ending for we, they and the formal you are the same!
In the present tense there are some irregular verbs. This means that the vowel in the middle of the verb's du form and er/sie/es form changes.
| Eg sehen = to see | Ich sehe gern fern. (I like watching TV.) |
Siehst
du gern fern? (Do you like watching TV?) |
You can find the correct form of these verbs in your dictionary or in McKinnon's Table of Strong Verbs.
