Present tense verbs

Regular verbs

The regular verbs in the present tense follow the pattern: infinitive stem + personal ending

Personal pronouns
Singular Plural Singular & Plural

ich hoffe wir hoffen

du hoffst ihr hofft Sie hoffen

er hofft
sie hofft
es hofft sie hoffen

Personal pronouns
Singular	Plural	Singular & Plural
ich hoffe	wir hoffen
du hoffst	ihr hofft	Sie hoffen
er hofft sie hofft es hofft	sie hoffen

Regular verbs with stem ending in -t, -d, or a consonant combination

Verbs in which the stem ends in -t , -d, or a consonant combination such as -gn, add an -e- before the ending in the du, ihr and er / sie / es forms:

Personal pronouns
Singular	Plural	Singular & Plural
ich arbeite	wir arbeiten
du arbeitest	ihr arbeitet	Sie arbeiten
er arbeitet sie arbeitet es arbeitet	sie arbeiten

Regular verbs with stem ending in -s, -ss, or -z

Verbs in which the stem ends in -s, -ss, or -z use only a -t, rather than -st ending in the du form:

Personal pronouns
Singular	Plural	Singular & Plural
ich tanze	wir tanzen
du tanzt	ihr tanzt	Sie tanzen
er tanzt sie tanzt es tanzt	sie tanzen

Irregular verbs

A large group of verbs form their past and compound past tense using a unique stem, different from that of the present tense. A partial list of these verbs can be found here.

Present participle form

The present participle of both regular and irregular verbs in formed by adding a -d to its infinitive form. Present participles are used primarily as 1) adjectives (in which case they may also add an adjective ending) or 2) adverbs. Unlike English, the present participle is never used as a progressive form of the verb (er läuft = he runs or he is running).


	Infinitive	Present participle	Example of use	Translation
1. 2.	arbeiten singen	arbeitend singend	die arbeitenden Männer die Kinder laufen singend auf die Bühne.	the working men The children run onto stage singing.

Verbal nouns

The infinitive form of a verb can also be used as a noun, simply by capitalizing it. The gender of these infinitive nouns is always neuter. They usually translate into the -ing form in English.
Many nouns ending in -ung derive from an infinitive verb stem. Their gender is always feminine and often translate as the -ing form in English.


	Infinitive	Verbal noun	Example of use	Translation
1.	tragen	das Tragen	Das Tragen von Sonnenschutzmitteln ist wichtig	Wearing sunscreen is important.
2.	bewegen erhalten	die Bewegung die Erhaltung	Regelmäßige Bewegung ist wichtig für die Erhaltung der Gesundheit	Regular exercise is important for maintaining health.