German Grammar: 1.3 Present and Past Tenses of sein, Jannach, with Gabelsberger

presentation of Jannach's work, by Corry Shores
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Hubert Jannach

German for Reading Knowledge

Part 1

Chapter 1

1.3 Present and Past Tenses of sein

a. Present tense

SINGULAR

ich bin (I am)

du bist (you are)

er ist (he is)

sie ist (she is)

es ist (it is)

PLURAL

wir sind (we are)

ihr seid (you are)

sie sind (they are)

Sie sind (you are)

Examples:

Ich bin krank.

I am sick.

Er ist krank.

He is sick.

Der Mann ist krank.

The man is sick.

Die Studenten sind krank.

The students are sick.

Hans, du bist müde.

Hans, you are tired.

Kinder, ihr seid müde.

Children, you are tired.

Herr Meier, Sie sind müde.

Mr. Meier, you are tired.

Meine Herren, Sie sind müde.

Gentlemen, you are tired

Note also the difference between the formal and informal forms of address. When speaking to relatives, close friends, or children, Germans use the familiar forms: du (singular) and ihr (plural). However, in all other situations, Germans use the formal form Sie (always capitalized) for both the singular and plural.

Jannach, Hubert. German for Reading Knowledge. New York: American Book Company, 1961. More information available at: http://lccn.loc.gov/61003075