German present tense and verb-second word order

Why it matters

German verb endings help tell you who a sentence is about.

Build the pattern

How it works

ich means “I”; du addresses one person informally. er is “he”, sie is “she” and es is “it”. For groups, use wir (“we”), ihr (“you”, informal plural) and sie (“they”).

Formal Sie means “you” when addressing one or more people politely. Keep its capital letter, including inside a sentence. Lowercase sie can mean “she” or “they”; the verb form and context help you decide.

With lernen (“to learn”), the full pattern is ich lerne, du lernst, er/sie/es lernt, wir lernen, ihr lernt, sie lernen, Sie lernen. Remove -en to get the stem lern-, then add the ending.

Common mistakes

• du lernen → du lernst

  The form for informal singular du ends in -st here.

Limits & exceptions

• At the beginning of a sentence, capital Sie may also be “she” or “they”. Use context and the verb; capitalization alone is not enough.

Why it matters

A small extra vowel makes some endings easier to pronounce.

Build the pattern

How it works

wohnen means “to live” in a place, spielen “to play” and kommen “to come”. They follow the same present endings here: ich wohne, du spielst, er kommt.

arbeiten means “to work”. Its stem ends in t, so the forms for du, er/sie/es and ihr have an extra e: du arbeitest, er arbeitet, ihr arbeitet. The other forms are ich arbeite, wir arbeiten, sie arbeiten and formal Sie arbeiten.

Recall du heißt from the first block. Do not add another s to that form. This block practises the listed verbs; not every German verb follows an identical spelling pattern.

Common mistakes

• du arbeitst → du arbeitest

  Insert e before the ending in this form of arbeiten.

Limits & exceptions

• Stem-changing verbs and other irregular patterns come later. Learn the listed forms accurately before extending a rule.

Why it matters

You can start with the time without losing the sentence structure.

Build the pattern

How it works

In these statements, the changed verb takes the second slot. With the subject first: Ich lerne heute (“I am learning today.”). With the time first: Heute lerne ich (“Today I am learning.”).

A slot can contain more than one written word. In Mila und Noah lernen heute, the whole subject Mila und Noah fills the first slot. The verb is still in the second slot, though it is the fourth written word.

Use heute for “today” and morgen for “tomorrow”. Keep the verb before the subject when either of those words comes first.

Common mistakes

• Heute ich lerne. → Heute lerne ich.

  When Heute takes the first slot, the verb comes next, then the subject.

Limits & exceptions

• This rule covers the simple statements here. Commands, yes/no questions and subordinate clauses use other patterns.

Why it matters

You can turn a statement into a question by changing the order.

Build the pattern

How it works

For a yes/no question, put the verb first: Du lernst Deutsch becomes Lernst du Deutsch? Do not add an extra verb to translate English “do”.

For a question with a question word, put that word first and the verb next: Wo wohnst du? Here wo means “where”. The familiar name question follows the same order: Wie heißt du?

The subject still controls the ending: Lernt ihr? addresses several people informally, while Lernen Sie? is formal.

Common mistakes

• Wo du wohnst? → Wo wohnst du?

  In this direct question, the verb follows the question word.

Limits & exceptions

• Indirect questions have a different order. This block asks direct questions only.