Gerade in German is a German adverb often used in everyday talk. It is also an adjective, but in this case it only means “straight (not curved)” (eine gerade Straße = a straight road).

1. With Present Tense or Simple Past (Präteritum)

When we combine this word with a verb in present tense or in Präteritum (i.e. Ich singe/sang + gerade), it expresses that the action “is/was taking place” at the moment of speech.

In English and Spanish, they use the verb “to be” (in Spanish: estar) with the gerund form of the verb for this purpose (I am singing, Spanish: estoy cantando). In German there is no such verb structure comparable to English or Spanish with this exact meaning.

Examples:

• Ich kann gerade nicht, weil ich beim Arzt bin. ([At this moment] I can’t because I’m at the doctor’s office.)
• Ich kann nicht raus, denn es regnet gerade. (I can’t go out because it’s raining.)
• Sie las gerade die Zeitung, all es an der Tür klingelte. (She was reading the newspaper when the doorbell rang.)
• Er kommt gerade nach Hause. (He’s [just] coming home.)
• Sie kam gerade an, als ich loswollte. (She just arrived when I was about to leave.)

2. With Present Perfect (Perfekt)

However, when used with a verb in Perfekt, its meaning is very different. It expresses that something “has just happened”, i.e. short/directly before the moment of speech.

In this sense, it correspondes to the English adverb “just (a moment ago)”.

Examples:

• Wir sind gerade aus dem Kino gekommen. (We’ve just come back from cinema.)
• Sie sind gerade weggefahren. (They just drove away.)
• Ich habe gerade nicht zugehört. (I wasn’t listening.)

4. Different forms of this adverb

In everyday talk, we drop either the first e (grade) or both e’s (grad). Both spellings are registered in the official dictionary DUDEN:

• Kommst du grad(e) mal? (Could you come for a second?)
• Tut mir leid, ich kann grad(e) nicht. (I’m sorry but I can’t [at this moment.]

  Grad or gerade?

  In colloquial German, it is common to hear the word grad, which is slang for the adverb/adjective gerade and could easily be confused with the noun Grad. The adverb gerade can be translated as “just,” “especially,” “exactly,” “just now,” or even as “directly.” The adjective gerade is usually used to

  describe “even,” as in even and odd numbers, and is translated as “level,” “direct,” “upright,” and “ingenuous” as wellHowever, the neuter noun das Grad is a technical term that refers to measurable “degrees” of temperature or the “degree” of a geometric angle. In non-technical usage, it is a masculine noun (der Grad) and may refer an academic degree.

  Es soll bis über zwanzig Grad warm werden.

  It should get warm, up to more than twenty degrees

  How to pronounce gerade