German Tenses – Past, Present and Future

Introduction

German has six tenses: present (Präsens), present perfect (Perfekt), simple past (Präteritum), past perfect (Plusquamperfekt), future (Futur I) and future perfect (Futur II).

Learn when to use each of these tenses and how to conjugate them on Lingolia. The list of strong, weak and mixed verbs will help you to master the conjugation of regular and irregular verbs in German grammar. Simply click on one of the links below for an in-depth explanation complete with interactive exercises.

Overview of the Tenses

The table shows an overview of the conjugation of weak and strong verbs in six German tenses, as well as tips on the correct usage of each tense.

Example:: du lernst
du hast gelernt
du lerntest
du hattest gelernt
du wirst lernen
du wirst gelernt haben

Present

The present tense (Präsens) is the most often used tense in German. We can use this tense to talk about the present and the future.

Example:: ich lerne; ich sehe

Present Perfect

The present perfect (Perfekt) shows that an action took place in the past, but the focuses on the result of the action.

Example:: ich habe gelernt; ich habe gesehen

Simple Past

The simple past expresses facts and actions that took place in the past. We use this tense for stories and reports, mostly when writing.

Example:: ich lernte; ich sah

Past Perfect

We use the past perfect to express something that happened before another action in the past. It is common in storytelling.

Example:: ich hatte gelernt; ich hatte gesehen

Future

We use the future tense to express an intention or supposition for the present or future.

Example:: ich werde lernen; ich werde sehen

Future Perfect

The future perfect expresses the assumption that by the time of speaking, or at a later point, an action will have been completed.

Example:: ich werde gelernt haben; ich werde gesehen haben