The verb or verbal phrase describes the action of the sentence. It tells what the subject is doing and when the subject is doing it. This is known as tense, and in German there are six different tenses which describe when action is occurring.

Anatomy of a Verb

Every verb has a basic form called the infinitive. This is the form you would find in a dictionary when looking the verb up. They all end in -en or -n. In English all infinitives are coupled with the word "to." Here are some examples of German infinitive forms.

• wohnen - to live
• hören - to listen to
• heißen - to be called, to be named
• gehen - to go
• trinken - to drink
• spielen - to play
• machen - to make, to do
• schreiben - to write
• besuchen - to visit

To conjugate a verb with a subject in the present tense, you take the stem of the verb and add to it the appropriate ending.

	Singular	Plural
First Person Talking about yourself or yourself and others in your group.	Ich spiel - e	Wir spiel - en
Second Person, Informal Talking to someone, or a group of people. These people could be your friends, siblings, animals, children, parents, anyone you are on intimate terms with.	du spiel - st	ihr spiel - t
Third Person Talking about someone or a group of people.	er spiel - t sie es	sie spiel - en
Second Person, Formal Talking to someone or a group of people. These are people you are not on intimate terms with: adults you don't know, people in power, teachers/professors, etc.	Sie spiel - en.

Notice the 3rd person singular form. The form is identical for er, sie, and es. If the subject is a singular noun you are talking about, then you would use the er/sie/es form of the verb. Examples:

• Der Junge wohnt in der Stadt.
• Das Mädchen hört Musik.
• Die Frau besucht Freunde.

nach Hause gehen - to go to home nicht weit von hier wohnen - to live not far from here Musik hören - to listen to music Freunde besuchen - to visit friends Hausaufgabe machen - to do homework eine Arbeit schreiben - to write a paper ein Glas Milch trinken - to drink a glass of milk Football spielen - to play football Karten spielen - to play cards ins Kino gehen - to go to the movies Hans heißen - to be called Hans

Conjugate #4 to the left - Freunde besuchen Singular Plural First Person Ich besuch - e Freunde. Wir besuch - en Freunde. Second Person, Informal du besuch - st Freunde. ihr besuch - t Freunde. Third Person er besuch - t Freunde. sie es sie besuch - en Freunde. Second Person, Formal Sie besuch - en Freunde.

What is also important is that a German verb in the present tense can be translated into English three ways:

Ich besuche Freunde =

I visit friends. I am visiting friends. I do visit friends.

Exercise on the Present Tense
Verbal Phrases and Nouns - Present Tense