Key learning points

1. There is just one present tense in German, used to translate the simple present and the present continuous in English.
2. Imperative verbs are used to give instructions or advice, or to tell someone to do something.
3. To form the imperative ‘du’ form of weak verbs, remove the ‘st’ ending from the normal present tense form and the 'du'.
4. To make the 'ihr' form of the imperative of weak verbs, just remove the 'ihr'. The verb stays the same.
5. Verbs with stems ending in ‘-d’ or ‘-t’ add an ‘-e’ to the 'du' form of the imperative.

Keywords

• Simple present - describes habitual events in the present: 'I do'

• Present continuous - describes events happening right now: 'I am doing'

• Imperative - a mood used to tell somebody to do something or to give instructions

• Du - subject pronoun meaning 'you', informal and singular

• Ihr - subject pronoun meaning 'you', informal and plural

Common misconception