Explain German verb tenses I should learn first
The German verb tenses to learn first are the Present tense (Präsens) and the Present perfect tense (Perfekt). These two tenses cover most everyday communication needs.
The Present tense is the simplest and most frequently used. It describes actions happening now, general truths, and even future events with time indicators. For example, “Ich lerne Deutsch” means “I am learning German”. 1, 6, 7
The Present perfect tense is mainly used to describe past actions in spoken German, making it very important for daily conversation. It is formed with an auxiliary verb (haben or sein) and the past participle of the main verb. For example, “Ich habe gelernt” means “I have learned” or simply “I learned” in conversational contexts. 3, 7, 1
The Simple past (Präteritum) mainly appears in written form or with a few common verbs, so it can be learned after mastering Präsens and Perfekt.
Future tenses are often expressed by using the Present tense with time expressions, so learning a separate future tense is less urgent initially. 7, 9, 3
In summary, for beginners, start with:
- Present tense (Präsens)
- Present perfect (Perfekt)
Later, you can learn the Simple past (Präteritum), Past perfect (Plusquamperfekt), and the future tenses (Futur I and Futur II).