Perfekt

Partizip

Each verb has its own Partizip that never changes. The Partizip always comes last in any sentence.

Regular verbs

A Partizip usually looks like this: ge_____t.

For verbs ending on -ten or -den extra "e" is added for pronunciation reasons (ge_____et).

Movement verbs

Verbs that describe a movement towards something have a Partizip like this: ge_____en.

Mixed verbs

Mixed verbs are irregular verbs that have certain regular attributes. We form their past participle by adding "ge-" to the beginning of the verb stem and "-t" to the end. You'll need to memorise the verbs that belong to this group

Separable verbs

We form the past participle of separable verbs by adding "ge-" before the stem and either "-t" or "-en" after it. The separable prefix then goes before "ge-".

There's no way of knowing which verbs take which ending - you'll just have to memorise them for each separable verb you learn.

Inseparable verbs

Not all verbs with a prefix are separable. We form the past participle of inseparable verbs by just adding the ending "-t" or "-en" to the verb stem.

Past tense

There are three ways of forming past tense.

Using "sein" and Partizip

We use Perfekt tense with "sein" with verbs that describe a movement towards something. 🏃 🚲 🚗 🚀 🏊

The Perfekt is formed of two parts.

<+Part 1+> is "sein" in the present tense.

It changes its form depending on the person the sentence is about.

The "sein" part is in position 1 in a yes/no question, and in position 2 in the two other sentence types.

The Partizip is always last.

<+Part 2+> is and Partizip.

Using "haben" and Partizip

"Haben" needs to be adjusted to the person the sentence is about:

The "haben" part is in position 1 of a sentence when it's a yes/no question, and in position 2 the two other sentence types.

word order

In German sentences the verb usually comes 2nd. In sentence with time reference word order changes

It can help to remember this gesture : ✌️ (it means the Verb comes 2nd).

• 1️⃣ Diesen Monat (time)
• 2️⃣ bin (verb ✌️)
• 3️⃣ ich (subject)
• 4️⃣ faul (rest of sentence).

• 1️⃣ Letzten Monat (time)
• 2️⃣ habe (verb ✌️)
• 3️⃣ ich (subject)
• 4️⃣ viel Sport (rest of sentence)
• 5️⃣ gemacht (Partizip).

Präteritum

We can use the past tense "Präteritum" in spoken German, but you'll see it much more often in written texts such as newspapers or literature. The “Präteritum” has the same meaning as the “Perfekt” with “haben” and “sein”. They can refer to the same point in the past.

We form the "Präteritum" by adding certain endings to the verb stem.

When a verb stem ends on "-d" or "-t", we add an "-e" between the verb stem and "Präteritum"-ending, to make the pronunciation easier.

Irregular and verbs changes thier stem and endings in past tense

Irregular

modal

Möchten (would like) do not have Präteritum: Wollte is using instead!

• Ich möchte jetzt ein Bier
• Ich wollte gestern ein Bier

Endings for irregular and modal verbs

Created: 18 Oct 2022

Last Update: 15 Jan 2023