Present tenseWhat is the present tense?

We use the present tense to talk about what is happening currently or in the present time.

The present tense is used:

• to say what you are doing right now – ich arbeite – I am working
• to say what you do regularly or always – ich schwimme jede Woche – I swim every week
• to describe something ongoing – ich spiele Fußball – I play football (this implies it is one of your hobbies)
• to express the near future – ich hole dir ein Eis – I'll get you an ice-cream

In German, there are two groups of verbs:

• weak, or regular verbs
• strong, or irregular verbs