How do I form the perfect tense in German?

The perfect tense refers to an action that happened in the past. Eg) I played football. She drank water. We went shopping. In german it is formed using an auxilary verb (haben or sein) and the past participle of the verb. The auxilary goes first in the sentance and the pasr participle is sent to the end. In auxilary verb 'haben' is used unless the verb decribes movement. In weak verbs, the past participle is formed by taking the infinitive, adding the prefix ge- and changing the ending to -t.spielen --> gespieltI played footbal --> Ich habe Fußball gespielt.In strong verbs, the past participle is more irregular. Often, the prefix ge- is added, the ending remains -en and there is a vowel change.trinken --> getrunkenShe drank water --> Sie hat Wasser getrunken.Other times the participle is completely irregualar. These have to be learnt.gehen --> gegangenWe went shopping --> Wir sind einkaufen gegangen.Here the auxilary verb 'sein' is used as there is movement. 

HC
Answered by Hannah C. German tutor

3971 Views

See similar German GCSE tutors

Related German GCSE answers

All answers ▸

What is the best way to revise for a speaking exam?


how can you tell if a verb will be separable or not?


Which sentence contains the correct word order? A) Jeden Tag spiele ich Tischtennis mit meinen Geschwistern. B) Ich spiele Tischtennis zu Hause mit meinen Geschwistern jeden Tag. C) Jeden Tag ich spiele Tischtennis mit meinen Geschwistern.


What do subordinating conjunctions do and how can I tell if a word is one?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences