German Present Tense and the -ing Trap

The German Present Tense is a pretty self explanatory title. It is used when you want to talk about something that is true at the moment, something that happens on a regular basis and what is happening at the moment. For example:

• I’m at home
• He travels to work by car
• I’m playing football

The English language has two forms to deal with the present tense. One for things happening at the moment and the other for things that happen all the time. With the German present tense, however, you use one form for both of these situation.

Things that are happening at the moment:

• Er isst ein Steak. – He’s eating a steak.
• Wir spielen Basketball. – We‘re playing basketball.

Things that happen regularly, or as a habit:

• Er isst jeden Tag ein Steak. – He eats every day a steak.
• Mittwochs spielen wir Basketball. – We play basketball on Wednesdays.

If you need to emphasise the fact that something is happening right now, the German language uses three alternative ways to do this:

• Present tense + an adverb:
  Sie schwimmt gerade im neuen Pool. – She’s swimming in the new pool.

• Beim + an infinitive being used as noun:
  Ich bin beim Joggen. – I’m jogging.

• Eben/gerade dabei sein zu (meaning to be in the process of) + an infinitive:
  Wir sind gerade dabei, den Müll rauszubringen. – We are just bringing the rubbish out.

Present Tense German: The -ing Trap

In English, we use the -ing ending very regularly. ‘I am going on holiday’, ‘I am playing football’, ‘you are watching TV’. It is this that can create a lot of confusion for beginners when using the German present tense.
As you can see from the above examples, English often uses a form of the verb ‘to be’ e.g. I am, you are etc.

In the German present tense, this form doesn’t exist so you need to think about how to construct the German sentences in this form. It is most common to use the normal simple present tense in German.

-ing Trap Examples:

I am going on holiday
Ich bin in Urlaub gehen - WRONG
Ich gehe in Urlaub - CORRECT

I am playing football
Ich bin Fußball spielen - WRONG
Ich spiele Fußball - CORRECT

You are reading a book
Du bist ein Buch lesen - WRONG
Du liest ein Buch - CORRECT