The German Cases

The Indicative Mood (der Indikativ)

The Indicative Mood is used for statements and questions.

Ex: Nebraska became a state in 1867.

Indicative Mood - Present Tense *(der Indikativ - das Präsens *) Verb Conjugations

Ex: Anna arbeitet schwer. (Anna is working hard.)

Ex: Paß bitte auf. (Please pay attention.)

	lernen1 (to learn)	arbeiten2 (to work)	reisen3 (to travel)	geben4 (to give)	backen5 (to bake)	laufen6 (to run)	lesen7 (to read)	aufstehen8 (to stand up)
ich	lerne	arbeite	reise	gebe	backe	laufe	lese	stehe . . . auf
du	lernst	arbeitest	reist	gibst	bäckst	läufst	liest	stehst . . . auf
er, es,sie	lernt	arbeitet	reist	gibt	bäckt	läuft	liest	steht . . . auf
wir	lernen	arbeiten	reisen	geben	backen	laufen	lesen	stehen . . .auf
ihr	lernt	arbeitet	reist	gebt	backt	lauft	lest	steht . . . auf
sie	lernen	arbeiten	reisen	geben	backen	laufen	lesen	stehen . . .auf
Sie	lernen	arbeiten	reisen	geben	backen	laufen	lesen	stehen . . .auf

1 Used for regular verbs, except the modals **[dürfen(to be permitted to, may), können(to be able, can), mögen(to like to), möchte, müssen(to be obligated to, must), sollen (to be supposed to, should), and wollen(to want to)], and wissen, werden, andsein.

2 Verbs w/ expanded endings. A verb with a stem ending in -d or -t has an e before the -st and -t endings. A verb with a stem ending in -m or -n preceded by another consonant has an e before the -st and -t endings, e.g., regnen. Exception: If the stem of the verb ends in -m or -n preceeded by -l or -r, the -st and –t do not expand, e.g., lernen = lernst, lernt.

3 Verbs w/ contracted endings. the -st ending of the 2nd person contracts to -t when the verb stem ends in a silibant (-s, -ss, -ß, -z, or –tz). Thus, the 2nd and 3rd person forms are identical.

4 Irregular verbs w/ stem vowel change.Some strong verbs have a stem-vowel change e to i in the 2nd and 3rd person singular and the imperative singular.

5 Irregular verbs w/ stem vowl change a to ä in the 2nd and 3rd person singular.

6 Irregular verbs w/ stem vowel change au to äu in the 2nd and 3rd person singular.

7 Some strong verbs have a stem vowel change e to ie in the 2nd and 3rd person singular and the imperative singular. The strong verbs gehen, heben, and stehen do not change their stem vowel.

8 In the present tense, seperable prefixes are seperated from the verb and are in last position.

*The Present Tense usually indicates that an action is taking place as you are speaking or writing.

** The Modals indicate necessity, possibility, willingness, obligation, and ability. In English, they are: must, will, can, could, may, might, ought (to), should, and would.

Indicative Mood - Present Tense * of Auxiliaries (der Indikativ - das Präsens * von die Hilfsverben)

	haben (to have; to possess)	sein (to be)	werden (to become)
ich	habe	bin	werde
du	hast	bist	wirst
er, es, sie	hat	ist	wird
wir	haben	sind	werden
ihr	habt	seid	werdet
sie	haben	sind	werden
Sie	haben	sind	werden

* The Present Tense usually indicates that an action is taking place as you are speaking or writing.

Indicative Mood - Present Tense * of Modal Verbs ** (der Indikativ - das Präsens von die Modalverben)

Ex: Ich kann bis acht Uhr bleiben. (I can stay until eight o’clock.)

Ex: Peter muß jetzt gehen. (Peter has to leave now.)

	dürfen (to be permitted to, may)	können (to be able, can)	mögen (to like to)	möcht- (to like to)	müssen (to be obligated to, must)	sollen (to be supposed to, should)	wollen (to want to)
ich	darf	kann	mag	möchte	muß	soll	will
du	darfst	kannst	magst	möchtest	mußt	sollst	willst
er,es,sie	darf	kann	mag	möchte	muß	soll	will
wir	dürfen	können	mögen	möchten	müssen	sollen	wollen
ihr	dürft	könnt	mögt	möchtet	müßt	sollt	wollt
sie	dürfen	können	mögen	möchten	müssen	sollen	wollen
Sie	dürfen	können	mögen	möchten	müssen	sollen	wollen

*The Present Tense usually indicates that an action is taking place as you are speaking or writing.

** The Modals indicate necessity, possibility, willingness, obligation, and ability. In English, they are: must, will, can, could, may, might, ought (to), should, and would.

Indicative Mood - Simple Past Tense ***(der Indikativ - das Präteritum ***)

Ex: Ich lernte Musik. (I learned music.)

	regular verbs	regular verbs	irregular verbs
ich	arbeitete	lernte	ging
du	arbeitetest	lerntest	gingst
er, es, sie	arbeitete	lernte	ging
wir	arbeiteten	lernten	gingen
ihr	arbeitet	lerntet	gingt
sie	arbeiteten	lernten	gingen
Sie	arbeiteten	lernten	gingen

*** The Past Tense is a form of the verb that indicates that an action has taken place. It has two uses:

Indicates an action completed in the past.
Ex: Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic.

Indicates actions that reocurred in the past but did not extend into the present.
Ex: When he was young, Mark Twain traveled in the Southwest.

Indicative Mood - Present Perfect Tense ****(der Indikativ - das Perfekt ****)(Regular Verbs)

Ex: Wir sind zu Hause geblieben. ( We stayed home.)

	haben + lernen (to have + to learn)	sein + reisen (to be + to travel)
ich	habe gelernt	bin gereist
du	hast gelernt	bist gereist
er, es, sie	hat gelernt	ist gereist
wir	haben gelernt	sind gereist
ihr	hast gelernt	seid gereist
sie	haben gelernt	sind gereist
Sie	haben gelernt	sind gereist

**** The Present Perfect Tense can indicate three types of continuing action that began in the past.

Indicates an action that begins in the past and is finished when you are speaking or writing.
Ex: Dr. Kim has finished studying.
Indicates an action that begins in the past and extends into the present.
Ex: My mother has invested her money wisely.
Indicates an action that occured at an unspecified past time.
Ex: I have read all the books by Frank Herbert.

Indicative Mood – Present Perfect Tense **** (der Indikativ - das Perfekt ****) (Irregular Verbs)

Ex: Ist Laura schon gegangen? (Is Laura already gone?)

	haben + singen (to have + to sing)	sein+ gehen (to be + to go; to walk)
ich	habe gesungen	bin gegangen
du	hast gesungen	bist gegangen
er, es, sie	hat gesungen	ist gegangen
wir	haben gesungen	sind gegangen
ihr	habt gesungen	seid gegangen
sie	haben gesungen	sind gegangen
Sie	haben gesungen	sind gegangen

**** The Present Perfect Tense can indicate three types of continuing action that began in the past.

Indicates an action that begins in the past and is finished when you are speaking or writing.
Ex: Dr. Kim has finished studying.
Indicates an action that begins in the past and extends into the present.
Ex: My mother has invested her money wisely.
Indicates an action that occured at an unspecified past time.
Ex: I have read all the books by Frank Herbert.

Indicative Mood - Past Perfect Tense *****(der Indikativ - das Plusquamperfekt *****)(Regular Verbs)

Ex: Ich hatte schon zwei Tage gewartet. (I had already waited for two days.)

	haben + lernen (to have + to learn)	werden + reisen (to become + to travel)
ich	hatte gelernt	war gereist
du	hattest gelernt	warst gereist
er, es, sie	hatte gelernt	war gereist
wir	hatten gelernt	waren gereist
ihr	hattet gelernt	wart gereist
sie	hatten gelernt	waren gereist
Sie	hatten gelernt	waren gereist

***** The Past Perfect Tense tense has three uses:

Indicates an action occuring before a certain time in the past.
Ex: By 1946, engineers had built the first electric digital computer.
Indicates that one action was finished before another one started.
Ex: By the time Alfred Wallace wrote his paper, Darwin had already publishedThe Origin of Species.
Indicates an unfulfilled desire in the past.
Ex: We had hoped to visit the Kennedy Center on our trip to Florida.

Indicative Mood - Past Perfect Tense ***** (der Indikativ - das Plusquamperfekt *****)(Irregular Verbs)

Ex: Ich werde das Buch lesen. (I will read that book.)

	haben + singen (to have + to sing)	werden + gegen (to become + go; to walk)
ich	hatte gesungen	war gegangen
du	hattest gesungen	warst gegangen
er, es, sie	hatte gesungen	war gegangen
wir	hatten gesungen	waren gegangen
ihr	hattet gesungen	wart gegangen
sie	hatten gesungen	waren gegangen
Sie	hatten gesungen	waren gegangen

***** The Past Perfect Tense tense has three uses:

Indicates an action occuring before a certain time in the past.
Ex: By 1946, engineers had built the first electric digital computer.
Indicates that one action was finished before another one started.
Ex: By the time Alfred Wallace wrote his paper, Darwin had already publishedThe Origin of Species.
Indicates an unfulfilled desire in the past.
Ex: We had hoped to visit the Kennedy Center on our trip to Florida.

Indicative Mood - Future Tense ******(der Indikativ - das Futur ******)

	werden + lernen (to become + to learn)
ich	werde lernen
du	wirst lernen
er, es, sie	wird lernen
wir	werden lernen
ihr	werdet lernen
sie	werden lernen
Sie	werden lernen

****** The Future Tense indicates that an action will take place. It has four uses:

Indicates a future action that will definitely occur.
Ex: Halley‘s Comet will reappear in 2061.
Indicated intention.
Ex: I will require that you listen.
Indicates what will happen if certain conditions occur.
Ex: If the water does not boil, the food will not cook.
Indicates probability.
Ex: This hot weather will most likely continue.

Created by Esther Hillmann. 1999, 2000
Foreign Language Lab / University of Houston