Langula
EN
Sign up free
← Grammar

Present tense: regular verbs

Why is it “ich spiele” but “du spielst”?

Take a look

The rule

Use the present tense for what happens now or regularly. With a regular verb, remove -en from the dictionary form and add a new ending: spielen becomes ich spiele, du spielst, er spielt. For wir and sie, the form is spielen again. The ending tells you who is doing the action. Some verb stems need an extra -e- before an ending to make pronunciation easier.

Remember: ich -e, du -st, er/sie/es -t.

Goes with lesson 9, 11, 12 of the course.

What differs for you

English changes many present-tense verbs only with he or she, so several subject forms look alike. German marks more persons with different endings. With “ich”, the course verbs end in -e: “ich arbeite”, “ich spiele”. The English subject alone may identify the person, but the German verb must show the matching ending too.

The forms

spielen in the present tense
PersonForm
ichspiele
duspielst
er/sie/esspielt
wirspielen
ihrspielt
sie/Siespielen

Common mistakes

Quick check

  1. machen (you)
    Conjugate the verb.
    Answer
    machst — Stem 'mach' + ending -st
  2. arbeiten (he)
    Conjugate the verb.
    Answer
    arbeitet — Stem ending in -t: ending -et
  3. Wir ___ gern Musik. (to hear)
    Insert the correct verb form.
    Answer
    hören — 1st person plural: stem + -en
  4. Er ___ ein Buch. (to read)
    Choose the correct form.
    1. lest
    2. leset
    3. liest
    4. lesen
    Answer
    liest — Stem vowel change e→ie
  5. Du fahrst nach Berlin.
    Correct the mistake.
    Answer
    Du fährst nach Berlin. — Stem vowel change a→ä
  6. sprechen (you)
    Conjugate the verb.
    Answer
    sprichst — Stem vowel change e→i
  7. Ihr ___ sehr schnell. (to run)
    Insert the correct verb form.
    Answer
    lauft — 2nd person plural: stem + -t

The same exercises come back in the course — there Langula remembers what you know and asks again at the right moment. Learn German free →

Terms

Verb
A word for an action or event: go, sleep, be.
Conjugation
A verb changes depending on who does the action: I go, she goes.
Present tense
A verb form for what happens now or regularly: I learn.
Person
Who speaks, is addressed, or is talked about: I, you, she.
BeforePlural nounsAfterThe verb in second position

Tenses

The perfect: talking about the past A2Why do “hast” and “gemacht” appear together?→War and hatte: the simple past A2What does war show in “Gestern war ein schöner Tag”?→Past perfect B1The past perfect describes an action that took place before another action in the past.→Konnte, musste, wollte A2How do you use können for a past ability?→Future perfect B2The future perfect describes an action that will be completed at a future point in time.→

Learn German, don’t just read about it

The sentences on this page are part of the free course — with pronunciation and repetition.

Start for free