Transcript Present_tense_happy_verb_detective[1]x

Another case for Agent 8
• To investigate mystery of the present tense in German
• To present findings and evidence
• To share solution to mystery
CASE OPENED
so, what is a verb?
A verb is a word representing
an action.
Ich schwimme.
Ich faulenze.
Ich tanze.
and what is
‘tense’?
The ‘tense’ of a sentence tells you if the sentence refers to
the past, the present or the future.
In German as in English, verbs usually change their spelling
to reflect different tenses.
Present = I play or I am playing
Past = I played or I have played
Future = I will play
let’s take a closer
look.
The present tense is used to describe what happens
regularly and what is happening.
e.g. Ich lese jeden Tag (I read every day)
e.g. Ruhe! Ich lese! (Quiet! I’m reading!)
Test if a sentence is in the present tense by inserting ‘now’
or ‘every day’ and seeing if it makes sense.
We need to know 3 key words to be able to
investigate and write German verbs properly :
INFINITIVE
ENDING
STEM
This is how the verb is listed in the dictionary because
there are too many spellings to list individually
The infinitive is translated into English as ‘ to . . .’
The infinitive always ends in –n or -en
The STEM is simply the infinitive form
minus the –en at the end
spiel en
= STEM
This part is called the stem because its
runs through all parts of the verb
Different endings are added to the stem of the verb
The same set of endings is used for all present tense
verbs
The ending you add depends on the person or thing
doing the action of the verb
All people or things doing the action of the verb
could be replaced by the following pronouns:
ich
I
du
you (friend)
er/es/sie he/it/she
wir
we
ihr
you (friends)
Sie
you (formal, sing./pl)
sie
they
This part is one half of the SNAP pair in German.
The other half of the SNAP pair is the SNAP ending
you add to the stem of the verb
ich
stem
+e
du
stem
+st
er/es/sie
stem
+t
wir
stem
+en
ihr
stem
+t
stem
+en
Sie/sie
It’s called SNAP after the card game
because you have to find a matching pair!
so, there’s no
mystery about it!
• Choose a verb
• Decide who or what is doing the action
• Add a matching ending to the stem of the verb
CASE dismissed