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Understanding the German Present Tense
The present tense in German is used to talk about things that are happening right now or things that happen regularly. It's like when you say 'I play' or 'I am playing' in English.
Important Points
Regular verbs: These follow a pattern when you change them to the present tense.
Irregular verbs: These do not follow the pattern and you have to learn them separately.
Verbs ending in -eln or -ern: These have a slight change in their pattern.
Separable verbs: These are verbs that split into two parts in a sentence.
Modal verbs: These are special verbs that express ability, permission, or necessity.
Regular Verbs
To change a regular verb to the present tense, you need to remove the ending -en from the verb and add different endings depending on who is doing the action. These endings are: -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en.
Examples
spielen: ich spiele, du spielst, er/sie/es spielt
machen: wir machen, ihr macht, sie/Sie machen
Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs don't always follow the regular pattern. Some change their vowels or have different endings. It's important to memorize these changes.
Examples
sehen: ich sehe, du siehst, er/sie/es sieht
fahren: wir fahren, ihr fahrt, sie/Sie fahren
Verbs Ending in -eln or -ern
For verbs ending in -eln or -ern, you usually drop the -n and add the endings. But for 'ich', you keep the 'e' before the ending.
Examples
sammeln: ich sammele, du sammelst, er/sie/es sammelt
ändern: wir ändern, ihr ändert, sie/Sie ändern
Separable Verbs
Separable verbs have a prefix that separates from the main verb in a sentence. The prefix usually goes to the end of the sentence.
Examples
aufstehen: Ich stehe um 7 Uhr auf.
mitkommen: Kommst du mit?
Modal Verbs
Modal verbs like 'können', 'müssen', and 'wollen' are used with another verb at the end of the sentence. The modal verb changes, but the other verb stays in its basic form.
Examples
können: Ich kann schwimmen.
müssen: Du musst lernen.
wollen: Wir wollen spielen.
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