Language/German/Grammar/Past-Tense-—-Part-1-—-Perfect-Tense

Past Tense - Part 1

Past Tense - Part 2

German Grammar → Past Tense → Perfect Tense

How to form the perfect (regular verbs)

To form the perfect tense, you use the auxiliary 'haben' and the past participle. The past participle is usually formed by adding the prefix "ge" and the ending "t" to the verb stem.

Example: kaufen (to buy)

Present Tense		Perfect Tense
Pronoun	Verb	Pronoun	Auxiliary	Participle
ich	kaufe	ich	habe	gekauft
du	kaufst	du	hast	gekauft
er/sie/es	kauft	er/sie/es	hat	gekauft
wir	kaufen	wir	haben	gekauft
ihr	kauft	ihr	habt	gekauft
sie	kaufen	sie	haben	gekauft

Some verbs form the perfect tense with the auxiliary „sein“. Those are usually verbs of movement.

Example: hüpfen (to jump)

Present Tense		Perfect Tense
Pronoun	Verb	Pronoun	Auxiliary	Participle
ich	hüpfe	ich	bin	gehüpft
du	hüpfst	du	bist	gehüpft
er/sie/es	hüpft	er/sie/es	ist	gehüpft
wir	hüpfen	wir	sind	gehüpft
ihr	hüpft	ihr	seid	gehüpft
sie	hüpfen	sie	sind	gehüpft

Specifics

It is typical for the German language that we construct words like in a modular system. So quite a few verbs exist not only in their basic form, but also with a prefix that changes their meaning.

Example: kaufen (to buy), abkaufen (to buy sth. from so.), aufkaufen (to buy out), einkaufen (to buy, to shop), verkaufen (to sell), zukaufen (to buy something in addition)

Some of the prefixes are dropped when the verb is the main verb in the main sentence.

Example: einkaufen --> ich kaufe ein.

These verbs form the participle by putting the "ge" between the prefix and the verb stem.

Example: einkaufen --> ich kaufe ein --> ich habe eingekauft.

Other prefixes are strictly attached to the verb stem.

Example: verkaufen --> ich verkaufe.

Those verbs don't add "ge" at all.

Example: verkaufen --> ich verkaufe --> Ich habe verkauft.

Irregular Verbs

For verbs, dictionaries always give you the past tense and past participle forms in addition to the infinitive. Some do this for all verbs, some only for the irregular ones.

Example regular verb: hüpfen (jump), hüpfte, gehüft

Example irregular verb: fahren (drive), fuhr, gefahren

With irregular verbs, it's important that you learn these three forms. The participle of irregular verbs usually differs from the regular ones by ending in "en" and/or changes the vowel in the stem.

Examples:

rennen (ran), rannte, gerannt

schwimmen (swim,) schwamm, geschwommen

How to use the perfect tense

The perfect is the most used form of the past tense in German. In fact, in the spoken language you only use the perfect tense with the exception of the verbs "haben", "sein", "denken", "finden" and the modal verbs

(dürfen, können, mögen, müssen, sollen, wollen), which are often (but not necessarily) used in simple past. In written language, the perfect tense is dominant in all non-literary texts (e.g. correspondence, diaries, reports).

Other Lessons

• Give your Opinion
• Simple negative sentences
• How to Use Be
• Negation
• Adjectives
• Present Tense
• Indefinite Articles in German
• Be Polite
• Future Tense
• How to Use be