Past tenses: perfect and simple past
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Notas de aula
The perfect tense
- The taught perfect combines present haben or sein with Partizip II: ich habe gespielt, wir haben gegessen and ich bin gegangen. Weak examples gespielt/gemacht use ge- and -t; gearbeitet adds -et. Mixed forms such as gebracht combine a stem change with -t.
- Strong forms include gesehen, gegessen, geschrieben, gegangen, gefahren and gekommen. Not every strong participle has a visible vowel change from the infinitive; not every participle starts ge-. Learn each complete form and its auxiliary rather than infer tense or class from one letter.
Learn the participle and model together
Verbs with sein
- Complete sein models include ich bin nach Hause gegangen, nach Berlin gefahren, nach Wien geflogen, eingeschlafen and zu Hause geblieben. Bleiben describes remaining, not a change of place, yet takes sein in this construction.
- Movement alone does not assign the auxiliary. Meaning, transitivity and regional patterns can matter; schwimmen can occur with haben or sein in suitable uses. Fahren used for causing someone else’s travel can have another auxiliary pattern. Learn the stated construction rather than an unqualified isolated verb list.
Read the complete sein construction
Separable and inseparable
- Aufstehen/aufgestanden and einkaufen/eingekauft put ge- between the separable prefix and base in these forms. Besuchen/besucht and verlieren/verloren omit added ge- with their inseparable unstressed prefixes.
- Studieren/studiert omits ge- as an unstressed -ieren verb. Ausprobieren/ausprobiert likewise has no ge- despite separable aus-. Prefix placement and the base verb both matter; separability does not by itself determine whether sein or haben is used.
Check prefix and base verb
Position
- Gestern habe ich einen Film gesehen has finite habe after one opening constituent and participle gesehen closing the verbal bracket. This is the simple declarative main-clause pattern being practised.
- In weil ich einen Film gesehen habe, gesehen precedes the final auxiliary habe. A participle can also be fronted in another construction, so always last is not a universal rule for every sentence. The clause type determines the useful ordering.
Choose clause order deliberately
Simple past (Präteritum)
- Sein Präteritum: ich war, du warst, er/sie/es war, wir waren, ihr wart, sie/Sie waren. Haben: ich hatte, du hattest, er/sie/es hatte, wir hatten, ihr hattet, sie/Sie hatten. Ich musste, konnte, wollte and durfte are indicative past modal forms in these models.
- Wäre, hätte, könnte and müsste are Konjunktiv II forms rather than the same indicative past. Es regnete can mean it rained or it was raining in context; German does not require a separate English-style progressive form. Perfect modal construction ich habe nicht kommen können uses an Ersatzinfinitiv.
Distinguish indicative past and Konjunktiv II
Time expressions
- Gestern yesterday, letzte Woche last week, vor zwei Tagen two days ago and damals back then in a past account provide past references. Letztes Wochenende explicitly names last weekend; am Wochenende alone can be past, future or habitual.
- Heute Abend means this evening and may be earlier or later relative to now. A time phrase identifies a reference point but does not mechanically select perfect versus Präteritum; read the complete message and any requested task form.
Interpret the time phrase
Choosing
- Perfect is common in conversation and Präteritum in written narratives, but this is a tendency rather than an absolute division. War, hatte and many modal past forms are common in speech as well, with regional and contextual variation.
- Ich war müde and ich bin müde gewesen are both grammatical; ich war müde gewesen is pluperfect. If a question specifically asks for Präteritum, choose war, but do not label another grammatical past form impossible merely because it differs from the requested construction.
Recognise another grammatical past form
Slides
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Questões de prática
Prévia grátis — 8 de 36 perguntas. Cadastre-se para ver todas.
1.What is the standard written Partizip II of "spielen"?
Easy- Agespielt
- Bgespielen
- Cspielt
- Dgespielst
2.What is the standard written Partizip II of "machen"?
Easy- Agemachen
- Bgemachs
- Cmachet
- Dgemacht
3.What is the standard written Partizip II of "sehen"?
Easy- Asah
- Bsehen
- Cgesehen
- Dgesieht
4.What is the standard written Partizip II of "essen"?
Easy- Agessen
- Bgegessen
- Cgeisst
- Dgeessen
5.What is the standard written Partizip II of "schreiben"?
Easy- Ageschrieben
- Bgeschriebt
- Cgeschreibt
- Dschrieben
6.What is the standard written Partizip II of "gehen"?
Easy- Agegeht
- Bgegangt
- Cgehen
- Dgegangen
7.What is the standard written Partizip II of "fahren"?
Easy- Agefahrt
- Bfahren
- Cgefahren
- Dgefährt
8.What is the standard written Partizip II of "kommen"?
Easy- Akommen
- Bgekommen
- Cgekommt
- Dgekomm
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