Common German Tenses

Anna Zänkert

Are you unsure when to use Perfekt vs Präteritum? Do you feel like there should be more Simple Future tenses in German? Follow CCC`s guide to common German tenses.

First things first. The German equivalent to Present Simple is called Präsens. We use this tense to speak about


  • facts
  • general truths
  • repetitive actions
  • actions in the present or future
  • duration of actions - !German has no progressive/continuous tenses!


You see, Present Simple and Präsens share many characteristics. The most striking difference is that the German language lacks progressive/continuous tenses, which is why you take Präsens to translate sentences from Present Progressive/Continuous to German.

Let’s take a look at past tenses. The most common past tenses are Präteritum (Past Simple) and Perfekt (Present Perfect). Präteritum is used 
  • to describe completed actions in the past
  • to describe facts and states in the past
  • most often to express past in written communication 

Keep in mind: Since German has no progressive/continuous tenses, Past Progressive/Continuous is converted to Präteritum. 

Perfekt, on the other hand, expresses


  • present perfect - the completed present so to say
  • actions completed just now or a little while ago



Also, it is mostly used in spoken communication when referring to/speaking about past events (except for haben/sein, which are used in Präteritum).

The last tense we want to show you today is Futur, also called Futur I. This tense is comparable to the will-future and going-to-future in English – all in one. It is used to


  • announce or forecast something
  • show intentions, assumptions or expectations
  • promise something
  • ask for/demand/order something

Lastly, we have summarised these four common German tenses in the overview below. 

Feel free to refer back to this when participating in a language course or when doing homework.

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