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Section 2.01 ~ Salzburg, Austria
Lesson 2.02 • Fremde und Freunde
Grammatik 2-1 ~ Introduction to Verbs
A 
verb
 is that part of speech that describes an action. Verbs come in an almost bewildering array of 
tenses, aspects, and types. For now, we will limit our discussion to verbs used in the 
present tense
— 
i.e., describing an action occuring in the present. You should start to recognize that the form a verb 
takes is related to the subject of that verb: the verb form must match the 
person
of the subject
. This 
requirement is sometimes evident in English, but always so in German. Consider the following English 
and German sentences (the verb is 
studieren
in every case):
I study biology.
Ich studiere Biologie
.
She studies 
mathematics.
Sie studiert Mathematik.
Today we study German.
Heute studieren wir 
Deutsch.
(Note a subject verb reversal)
What are you studying?
Was studierst du?
(Notice subject verb reversal in question 
sentence)
Several things are illustrated by these sentence pairs. First, all verbs in German follow the rule just 
stated that a verb form must agree with its subject. Starting in 
Lektion 6
we will learn the verb forms 
associated with each person in German. Second, this rule in English applies mostly to the verb 'to be' 
(e.g., I am, you are, he is, etc.). In some English verbs, the 3rd person singular form is unique, often 
taking an 's' or 'es' ending: "I give at the office", but "He gives at the office" (and "She studies..." 
above). Finally, some German verbs are best translated with an English 'to be' verb form added. This is 
called the 
progressive
form in English ('What are you studying?'), but it does not exist in German. 
Thus, a verb like 
nennen
can best be translated as "to name" or "to call". The following example may 
make this clearer. In the present tense, the following statements in English:
'They are calling the corporation, "Trans-Global"' 
'They name the corporation, "Trans-Global"' 
'They call the corporation, "Trans-Global"' 
'They do call the corporation, "Trans-Global"' 
are all expressed in German in only one way: 
Sie nennen die Firma, "Trans-Global"
. And the question 
statement: 'Do they call the corporation, "Trans-Global"?' becomes, in German: 
Nennen sie die Firma, 
"Trans-Global"?

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