The past tense is sometimes referred to as the imperfect tense. However, unlike the imperfect tense in some languages, the German past tense does not suggest that the action is unfinished or continuous. Instead, it simply indicates that the action or event took place in the past, similar to the English past tense. Therefore, the term “past tense” is more accurate and preferable, as it helps to avoid confusion. In German, this tense is commonly known as the Präteritum, and the term “preterite” may also be found in English.
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What is the Past Tense in German?
Regular verbs
Irregular (Strong) verbs
Haben and sein
Irregular (Mixed) Verbs
Modal Verbs
What is the Past Tense in German?
Let’s first see what the past tense looks like in English. The English past tense has three forms:
REGULAR: She watches the movie.
INCOMPLETE: She was watching the movie.
EMPHATICAL: She did watch the movie.
The German past tense has only ONE FORM. That form we can translate into any of the three forms in English.
For example:
Sie sah sich den Flim an.
The German past tense is used primarily as a written form, although it exists in everyday speech. The present perfect tense is more commonly used in the spoken language to express a past-tense idea.
Regular verbs
This is very straightforward in German. Forming the past tense of regular or weak verbs is always simple and easy because the verb itself doesn’t change. All you need to do is add the endings: -te, -test, -te, -ten, -tet, -ten to the stem of the regular verb. Let’s take a look at how it works:
| infinitive | stem | stem + endings |
| machen spielen fragen kaufen | mach- spiel- frag- kauf- | ich machte, du machtest, er machte, wir machten, ihr machtet, sie machten ich spielte, du spieltest, er spielte, wir spielten, ihr spieltet, sie spielten ich fragte, du fragtest, er fragte, wir fragten, ihr fragtet, sie fragten ich kaufte, du kauftest, er kaufte, wir kauften, ihr kauftet, sie kauften |
Please note the following peculiarities:
- The 1st and 3rd person singular forms have the same ending: -te.
- The 1st and 3rd person plural forms have the same ending: -ten.
- Pronoun sie has three meanings: she, they, or the formal You, (which is capitalized as “Sie”).
If a verb stem ends in -t or -d, then -e is inserted before the conjugational ending.
For example:
This rule also applies to verb stems ending in -m and -n. Fortunately, there are not many verbs with these endings. Verbs such as atmen and rechnen are conjugated by adding an -e between the stem and the ending.
Irregular (Strong) verbs
The process is a bit more complex with irregular verbs compared to regular or weak verbs. Irregular verbs form the past tense through a change in the vowel or stem, followed by adding suffixes such as -, -st, -, -en, -et, or -en to the verb stem. Observe how the German and English infinitives transform into their irregular past tense forms:
| German | English |
| kommen /kam geben/gab sprechen/sprach | come/ came give/ gave speak/ spoke |
Once you know the irregular past-tense stem, you can add the appropriate conjugational endings to the stem.
For example:
| kommen (come) | gehen (go) | schreiben (write) | |
| ich du er,sie,es wir ihr sie/Sie | kam kamst kam kamen kamt kamen | ging gingst ging gingen gingt gingen | schrieb schriebst schrieb schrieben schriebt schrieben |
Notice that the first- and third-person singular (ich, er, sie, es) do not require an ending in the irregular past tense.
This is a list of commonly used irregular verbs with their past-tense formations:
| infinitive | past tense | english |
| bleiben | blieb | stayed |
| essen | iss | ate |
| fahren | fuhr | traveled |
| fallen | fiel | fell |
| geben | gib | gave |
| gehen | ging | went |
| kommen | kam | came |
| laufen | lief | ran |
| lesen | las | read |
| nehmen | nahm | took |
| rufen | rief | called |
| singen | sang | sang |
| sprechen | sprach | talked |
| springen | sprang | jumped |
| schlafen | schlief | slept |
| schlagen | schlug | hit |
| schreiben | schrieb | wrote |
| stehen | stand | stood |
| tragen | trug | wore, carried |
| trinken | trang | drank |
Haben and sein
It is important to focus on the verbs haben, sein, and warden, as they play an important role in forming various tenses and also have distinct functions when used independently. Their irregular past-tense conjugations are:
| haben (to have) | sein (to be) | werden (to become) | |
| ich du er/sie/es wir ihr sie/Sie | hatte hattest hatte hatten hattet hatten | war warst war waren wart waren | wurde wurdest wurde wurden wurdet wurden |
Irregular (Mixed) Verbs
Some irregular verbs not only make a vowel change in the stem, but they require the suffixes -te, -tes, -te, -ten, -tet, -ten. They combine elements of both strong and weak verbs, which is why we also call them mixed verbs. Let’s examine how this functions:
| kennen (know, be aquainted) | denken (think) | nennen (name) | |
| ich du er,sie,es wir ihr sie/Sie | kannte kanntest kannte kannten kanntet kannten | dachte dachtest dachte dachten dachtet dachten | nannte nanntest nannte nannten nanntet nannten |
Other irregular verbs that follow this pattern are:
brennen / brannte – to burn
bringen/ brachte – to bring
rennen/ randte – to run
senden/ sandte – to send
wenden/ wandte – to turn
wissen/ wusste – to know
Modal Verbs
Modal auxiliaries appear to be structured similarly to regular verbs. However, unlike regular verbs, they do not take an Umlaut in the past tense, even if the infinitive form contains an Umlaut. Let’s examine their conjugations in the past tense.
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