German Perfekt Tense: Talking About the Past
After this lesson you can say what you did yesterday, using haben or sein plus a participle.
Do this first: haben — to have
German Perfekt Tense: Talking About the Past
This is the past tense Germans actually speak. It is built from two pieces — a helper in second place and a participle at the very end — and the only real decision is haben or sein.
This is the past tense Germans actually speak. It is built from two pieces — a helper in second place and a participle at the very end — and the only real decision is haben or sein.
Ich
↓
gegessen.
habe
The video for this lesson is being made. Here is the idea in the meantime.
Watch · 0%
Kulturnotiz
There is a real north–south split here. Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland use the Perfekt almost exclusively in speech — the simple past sounds bookish there. Northern Germany uses the Präteritum somewhat more freely. As a learner you can safely use the Perfekt everywhere and never sound wrong, which is why it is worth mastering before the Präteritum at all.
Common questions
+When do I use haben and when sein?
Haben is the default. Sein is for movement from one place to another (gehen, fahren, fliegen, kommen) and for a change of state (aufwachen, einschlafen, sterben), plus the two odd ones, sein and bleiben.
+Where does the participle go?
At the very end of the clause. The helper verb takes position two and everything else is packed between them: Ich habe gestern einen Apfel gegessen.
+Why do some participles have no ge-?
Verbs ending in -ieren (studieren, telefonieren) and verbs with inseparable prefixes (verstehen, bekommen) never take ge-. Ich habe studiert, ich habe verstanden.
+Is the Perfekt "I have eaten" or "I ate"?
Both. German does not distinguish them the way English does — Ich habe gegessen covers "I ate", "I have eaten" and "I did eat". Translate by context, not by structure.