What I do at school: infinitives, present tense 3rd person singular

[o] can be either short (followed by 2 consonants) or long (followed by a single consonant, double vowel or 'h'). The infinitive of a verb is the form listed in the dictionary. In German, it usually ends in 'en'. The short form of the verb (3rd person singular) is used to talk about 'he' or 'she'. Remove 'en' from the infinitive and add a 't' for the 3rd person singular of most verbs. German has one present tense. English has two present tenses, e.g., 'er macht' can mean 'he does' or 'he is doing'.