German tenses

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As in other Indo-European languages, German verbs are marked for tense, i.e. for the time (relative to "now") when the action happens.

German does not distinguish between simple and progressive forms or between aspects, which makes the thing pretty easy.
In spoken German, the tenses are yet simpler than in the written language.

Moods make the thing more difficult, but that's explained on the page German subjunctive.

Past

Preterit (Präteritum) describes an action in the past. It corresponds to the English past tense (simple or progressive), and it is formed with special verb form that are often irregular. Please refer to German verbs to see those forms.
In spoken German, the preterit is only used for auxiliaries ("sein", "haben" and modal auxiliaries such as "können", "dürfen"). Other verbs are usually expressed in perfect tense.
Example: sie aß es (she ate / was eating / has eaten it)

Perfect (Perfekt) is used just like preterit. It is formed with the conjugated present tense form of "haben" or "sein" followed by the past participle of the main verb. Please refer to German verbs to see which verbs use the auxiliary "sein".
The preterit is preferred in the written language. In spoken German, the perfect is used for most verbs.
Example: sie hat es gegessen (she ate / was eating / has eaten it)

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) describes actions that happen before another action in past tense. It corresponds to the English past perfect, and it is formed just like the perfect tense, but with the auxiliary in preterit rather than present tense.
In spoken German, the pluperfect is often replaced with preterit or perfect tense.
Example: sie hatte es gegessen (she had eaten / had been eating it)

Present

Present (Präsens) describes what is happening now. It corresponds to the English present tense and present progressive. It is the basic conjugation of all verbs.
Example: sie isst es (she eats / is eating / has been eating it)

Future

Future I (Futur I) describes actions in the future. It corresponds to the various English future forms, and it is formed by conjugating "werden" in present tense followed by the infinitive of the main verb.
In spoken German, the future is often expressed with present tense.
Example: sie wird es essen (she will eat / is going to eat / will be eating it)

Future II (Futur II) describes actions already completed when other future actions happen. It corresponds to the English future perfect
This tense is quite rare, and often replaced with future I.
Example: sie wird es gegessen haben (she will have eaten it)

Please refer to German subjunctive to learn about moods in German.

>> languages >> German >> German grammar >> German verbs
German tenses (dialect case study)