Gegenwartsform

Gegenwartsform, literally “present form,” is a grammatical category used to express events in the present time. In German linguistics it corresponds to the Präsens, the present tense of the indicative mood. It covers actions occurring now, general truths, and actions that happen regularly, as well as near-future events when stated in the present with time expressions such as heute or jetzt.

In German, the Gegenwartsform is typically formed with the verb stem plus personal endings for each subject: ich arbeite, du arbeitest, er arbeitet, wir arbeiten, ihr arbeitet, sie arbeiten. Regular verbs follow predictable patterns, while irregular verbs involve stem changes or irregular endings (for example, sehen: ich sehe, du siehst, er sieht, wir sehen, ihr seht, sie sehen). Some verbs may exhibit small consonant changes, as in gehen: ich gehe, du gehst, er geht.

The Gegenwartsform has several uses. It describes actions occurring in the present moment, states, and general truths (Ich lese jeden Abend). It also expresses near-future events when combined with appropriate time adverbs (Ich fahre morgen nach Berlin). In literature and narrative prose, German sometimes employs the historical present (Erzählerische Gegenwartsform) to convey immediacy when recounting past events (Der Mann kommt herein, setzt sich und erzählt die Geschichte).

Notes: In German grammatical descriptions, Gegenwartsform is mainly synonymous with Präsens. Some dialects and constructions also use other forms to express ongoing actions, such as am + Infinitiv or the colloquial form bin + am + Verb, though these are distinct from the standard Gegenwartsform.