German verb tenses by level: Präsens, Perfekt, Präteritum, Plusquamperfekt, and Futur, with when to use each from A1 to C1.
German has fewer everyday tenses than English, which is good news. You do not need a dozen forms to sound fluent. You need about five, and you need to know which one native speakers actually use in each situation. Many learners waste time drilling a tense they will rarely say and neglect the one the exam expects in writing. This guide lays out the German verb tenses by level, shows the real-world choice between them, and tells you which ones matter at A1, A2, B1, and beyond.
The tenses you actually need, at a glance
Six tenses cover almost everything you will read, write, or say up to C1. Here is what each one does and roughly when it enters your studies.
| Tense | What it does | Usually from |
|---|---|---|
| Präsens | Present, and the future with a time word | A1 |
| Perfekt | The spoken past | A1 to A2 |
| Präteritum | The written past, plus sein/haben/modals when spoken | A2 to B1 |
| Futur I | Future intention and assumption | B1 |
| Plusquamperfekt | An action before another past action | B1 to B2 |
| Futur II | An action assumed complete by a future point | C1 |
If you master Präsens, Perfekt, and Präteritum, you can handle the large majority of A1 to B1 tasks. The rest build on those three.
Präsens: it also covers the future
The present tense is the workhorse. It describes what is happening now and what is generally true. Crucially, Germans use it for the future far more than English speakers expect, as long as a time word makes the meaning clear: Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin. (Tomorrow I am going to Berlin.) You do not need a future tense here. At A1 to A2, getting the present-tense verb endings and the future-with-time-word pattern right already lets you talk about plans.
Perfekt versus Präteritum: the choice that matters most
Both are past tenses, and choosing between them is the single most useful skill at A2 to B1. The rule of thumb is about spoken versus written.
- Perfekt is the spoken past. In conversation and informal writing (messages, emails), Germans say Ich habe gestern Fußball gespielt, not the Präteritum. It is formed with haben or sein plus the past participle (Partizip II).
- Präteritum is the written past. In stories, reports, and news, the same idea appears as Ich spielte Fußball. This is the narrative tense you read in books and write in formal accounts.
There is one important exception. Even in speech, Germans use the Präteritum for a small set of very common verbs: sein (war), haben (hatte), and the modal verbs (konnte, musste, wollte). So you say Ich war müde and Ich hatte keine Zeit, never the Perfekt versions. Learn those few Präteritum forms early, because you will use them constantly.
haben or sein in the Perfekt?
Most verbs take haben. Use sein when the verb shows movement from A to B (gehen, fahren, kommen) or a change of state (aufstehen, einschlafen, werden), plus the fixed cases sein and bleiben. So it is Ich bin nach Hause gegangen but Ich habe das Buch gelesen.
Präteritum forms: regular and irregular
Regular (weak) verbs add a -te ending: machen becomes machte, arbeiten becomes arbeitete. Irregular (strong) verbs change their stem vowel and must be learned: gehen becomes ging, fahren becomes fuhr, sehen becomes sah. There is no shortcut for the strong verbs, but the high-frequency ones are a short list worth memorising. This is a B1 focus, since that is where written narration starts to matter.
One event, two tenses: speech versus writing
Seeing the same content in both past tenses makes the choice concrete. Imagine telling a friend about your Saturday, then writing it as a diary entry.
- Spoken (Perfekt): Am Samstag bin ich früh aufgestanden, habe gefrühstückt und bin dann in die Stadt gefahren.
- Written (Präteritum): Am Samstag stand ich früh auf, frühstückte und fuhr dann in die Stadt.
Same events, same order, different register. Notice that aufstehen and fahren take sein in the Perfekt because they involve a change of state or movement, while frühstücken takes haben. In the speaking exam the first version is what an examiner expects; in a written story task, the second. Switching between them on purpose is exactly the control the higher levels reward.
Plusquamperfekt: the past before the past
This tense marks an action that happened before another past action. It is formed with the Präteritum of haben or sein (hatte, war) plus the past participle. You will meet it most often with the connector nachdem: Nachdem ich gegessen hatte, ging ich schlafen. The earlier action (eating) takes the Plusquamperfekt, the later one (sleeping) the Präteritum. If your word order with connectors like nachdem feels shaky, review how German connectors work alongside this tense, because the two are always used together.
Futur I: less common than you think
Futur I is werden plus the infinitive: Ich werde Deutsch lernen. In practice, Germans often prefer the present tense with a time word for plans, and reserve Futur I for emphasis, promises, or an assumption about the present: Er wird wohl krank sein (he is probably ill). Knowing this stops you from overusing a form that can sound heavy. Futur II (Er wird angekommen sein) is a C1 refinement you rarely need before then.
What each level actually expects
You do not learn all tenses at once. This is the typical progression, and matching your effort to it keeps you efficient.
- A1: Präsens and a first grip on the Perfekt for simple past statements.
- A2: Perfekt used confidently, plus the Präteritum of sein, haben, and modals; the future expressed with Präsens and a time word.
- B1: full Präteritum for written narration, an introduction to the Plusquamperfekt, and Futur I.
- B2: all past tenses used accurately and flexibly, alongside the passive and Konjunktiv II.
- C1: the complete range, including Futur II and reported speech with Konjunktiv I.
Tense choice is scored directly in the writing section, where using the Präteritum for a narrative or the correct Perfekt in an email shows control. The Schreiben writing guide shows how that accuracy is marked, and the Goethe B1 exam guide shows where these tenses appear in the tasks. The way to make the forms automatic is short, regular practice, so drill them in the free grammar tools below rather than only reading the chart.
Frequently asked questions
Use the Perfekt for almost everything you say about the past: Ich habe gearbeitet, Wir sind gefahren. The exceptions are sein, haben, and the modal verbs, where even in speech Germans use the Präteritum: war, hatte, konnte, musste. Save the full Präteritum for when you write a story or a report.
Default to haben. Switch to sein when the verb expresses movement to a new place (gehen, fahren, fliegen, kommen) or a change of state (aufstehen, einschlafen, werden), and for the fixed cases sein and bleiben. A quick check: if you moved from one point to another, it is usually sein.
Less than you would expect. For plans, the present tense with a time word is the normal choice: Nächste Woche fange ich an. Futur I with werden is kept for emphasis, promises, or guessing about the present. So do not force the future tense into every sentence about tomorrow.
An informal email or message uses the Perfekt for past events, like speech. A story, report, or any formal narrative uses the Präteritum. Matching the tense to the text type is one of the clearest signals of level in the writing section, so decide which one the task calls for before you start.
You should recognise it and use it in the common nachdem pattern, where it is almost required. Beyond that, its active use grows at B2. At B1, focus first on a clean split between Perfekt and Präteritum, then add the Plusquamperfekt for sequencing two past actions.
Fewer than the long lists suggest. Around fifty to sixty strong verbs cover the large majority of what you read and write up to B1, because the irregular verbs are also the most frequent ones (gehen, kommen, sehen, geben, nehmen). Learn them in order of frequency, and learn each one as a set of three forms (infinitive, Präteritum, Partizip II), for example gehen, ging, gegangen, so the Perfekt and Präteritum come together.
