In this lesson you will learn all about the past tense and perfect tense in German and English and what the differences are between them.
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The past and perfect tenses in ENGLISH
The past and perfect tenses in GERMAN
Regional variants
There are important differences between English and German in using the PERFECT TENSE.
The past and perfect tenses in ENGLISH
In English, there is usually a distinct difference between the past and perfect tenses, leading to sentences with different meanings.
For example:
Past tense: I broke my arm. But it’s healed up now.
The past tense in English indicates that something happened at a specific time in the past and concluded in the past.
Perfect tense: I have broken my arm. I still have a plaster.
The perfect tense in English often implies that a past event is relevant to the present. Saying, “I have broken my arm,” for example, typically suggests that the arm is still broken, possibly in a cast at the time of speaking.
The past and perfect tenses in GERMAN
The difference in meaning between the past tense and perfect tense is less distinct in German.
In many contexts, either tense can be used with little or no difference in meaning, and the choice often depends more on style or formality.
The main differences between the two German tenses can be summarized as follows:
The perfect tense is mainly used:
to refer to past actions or events which have some relevance to the present in spoken German, to refer to past actions and events
The past tense is mainly used:
in written German, to refer to past actions and events
So in German there is no distinction in meaning between these tenses:
For example, both sentences convey the same meaning:
Ich brach mir den Arm. / Ich habe mir den Arm gebrochen.
Ich brach mir den Arm. (I broke my arm.)
Ich habe mir den Arm gebrochen. (I have broken my arm.)
In many situations, either sentence can be used interchangeably, and the choice often comes down to style or the context of the conversation.
The main differences between the two German tenses can be summarized as follows:
The perfect tense is mainly used:
- in spoken German.
- for the past actions or events that are relevant to the present.
The past tense is mainly used:
- in written German, to refer to past actions and events
- for the past actions and events without necessarily implying current relevance.
Regional variations
In written German, past actions and events are generally narrated in the past tense, whereas in spoken German, the perfect tense is more commonly used.
In English, the past tense is typically used in both speech and writing to describe actions or events that occurred entirely in the past. However, in German, the past tense is standard in writing for such contexts, while in everyday speech—particularly in the southern regions—the perfect tense is more prevalent.
Nevertheless, there are notable exceptions to the general trend of using the past tense in written narratives and the perfect tense in spoken narratives.
The past tense in spoken German
- In South Germany, Austria and Switzerland the past tense is seldom used in everyday conversation. However, in North Germany, the past tense is more frequently used in speech, particularly in the following contexts:
with commonly used verbs.
For example:
-sein, haben, bleiben, gehen, kommen, stehen
-es gibt
-the modal auxiliaries verbs of saying, thinking, and feeling
- In North German speech, both of the following would be equally frequent:
Letzte Woche war er in London.
Letzte Woche ist er in London gewesen.
Ich konnte gestern nicht kommen.
Ich habe gestern nicht kommen können.
The past tense of other verbs can be heard in spoken North German, but generally less often than the perfect tense.
with the passive.
For example:
Das alte Haus wurde abgerissen. The old house was torn down.
in clauses introduced by als or wie, and in sentences with the adverb damals.
For example:
Sie telefonierte gerade, als er nach Hause kam. – She was just talking on the phone when he came home.
Ich habe gehört, wie er sein Auto vor dem Huas parkte. – I heard him parking his car in front of the Haus.
Damals arbeitete sie in Bonn. – At that time she was working in Bonn.
to record a state, or a habitual or repeated action in the past
For example:
Der Pass lag auf dem Tisch . The passport was lying on the table.
Im Herbst regnete es hier jeden Tag. It rained every day in the fall here.
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