Is presbyopia the first sign of cataracts forming? i read that somewhere and am wondering if it is true?

No: Cataracts have no relationship to presbyopia. Presbyopia means that the lens is so stiff that it cannot bend enough to allow for adequate focusing for near vision. Cataracts are cloudy lenses that usually occur years, if not decades, after presbyopia starts. Both cataracts and presbyopia are caused by aging of the lens.

False. : Presbyopia, or the loss of accommodative amplitude with aging, usually presents in the fifth decade of life with the need for reading glasses. Unless a person has natural monovision (one eye to read, one eye for distance) the presbyopia is practically inevitable. Cataract, a clouding of the lens inside the eye, is not inevitable, but the rate increases in the seventh to ninth decades of life.