Present tense: regular verbs

Most German verbs are regular: once you know the pattern, you can conjugate thousands of them the same way. For most verbs ending in -en, the present tense is built by taking off the -en from the infinitive to get the stem, then adding an ending that matches the subject pronoun. (Verbs ending in -eln/-ern, like sammeln or wandern, follow a slightly different pattern and aren't covered here.)

Quick shortcut: -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en — for ich, du, er/sie/es, wir, ihr, sie/Sie.

Forming the present tense

Here's machen (to do/make) as an example. The stem is mach-:

A helpful pattern: er/sie/es and ihr share the same ending, -t — only the pronoun tells you which one is meant. And wir and sie/Sie share -en, matching the infinitive form itself.

Spelling adjustments

A few stems need a small adjustment so the word stays pronounceable:

Stems ending in -t or -d (like arbeiten — to work, stem arbeit-) insert an extra -e before the du, er/sie/es, and ihr endings:

The extra -e keeps the form pronounceable: ✅ du arbeitest, not ❌ du arbeitst. The same happens with other -t/-d stem verbs like warten (to wait) → du wartest, and reden (to talk) → du redest. A few other stem endings that are hard to pronounce together with -st/-t get the same extra -e — for example, stems ending in -m or -n after another consonant: öffnen (to open) → du öffnest, rechnen (to calculate) → du rechnest, atmen (to breathe) → du atmest.

Stems already ending in -s, -ss, -ß, -z, or -x (like heißen — to be called, stem heiß-; heißen is irregular in some other tenses, but its present tense follows this same spelling rule) drop the extra -s from the du ending, since the stem already ends in a hissing sound:

• ✅ Du heißt Anna. Not: ❌ Du heißst Anna.
• ✅ Du tanzt gut. (You dance well.) Not: ❌ Du tanzst gut.
• ✅ Du passt gut. (You fit well.) Not: ❌ Du passst gut.

When to use the present tense

Unlike English, which splits this job between the present simple and the present continuous, German has just one present-tense form that covers all of these meanings:

• Habits and routines: Ich arbeite jeden Tag. (I work every day.)
• Facts and general truths: Wasser kocht bei 100 Grad. (Water boils at 100 degrees.)
• Things happening right now: Es regnet. (It's raining.)
• The near future, especially with a time expression: Wir besuchen dich morgen. (We're visiting you tomorrow.)

Depending on context, ich arbeite can mean I work or I am working — German has no separate continuous form, so context tells you which is meant.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Du machen das. → ✅ Du machst das. (the infinitive form isn't used for du — every pronoun needs its own ending)
• ❌ Du arbeitst viel. → ✅ Du arbeitest viel. (stems ending in -t/-d need the extra -e before -st)
• ❌ Du heißst Anna. → ✅ Du heißt Anna. (stems already ending in a hissing sound drop the extra -s)
• ❌ Ich bin arbeite. → ✅ Ich arbeite. (the present-tense verb form already means "I work" — no sein needed alongside it)

Quick check

Which form is correct?

1. Ich ____ (mache / machst) das.
2. Du ____ (arbeite / arbeitest) heute.
3. Er ____ (heißt / heißst) Thomas.
4. Wir ____ (machen / macht) das zusammen.
5. Ihr ____ (findet / findest) das gut.

Key takeaways

• Regular verbs add -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en to the stem, for ich, du, er/sie/es, wir, ihr, sie/Sie.
• Stems ending in -t/-d insert an extra -e before the -st/-t endings: du arbeitest, er arbeitet.
• Stems already ending in -s/-ss/-ß/-z/-x drop the extra -s from the du ending: du heißt, not du heißst.
• The present tense covers habits, facts, things happening right now, and the near future — German has no separate continuous form, unlike English.