Perfect / Past Tense
The Perfekt tense describes completed actions and is used in speech and writing to tell what happened. It forms stories and reports by linking helpers and past participles.
Usage
Use Perfekt for past events in spoken German and informal writing. It highlights completed actions relevant to the moment or narrative. Use Präteritum for the more distant past, reports, or literary texts.
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Form
Perfekt combines an auxiliary verb (haben or sein) in the present, plus the past participle usually formed with ge- and endings like -t or -en. The participle goes last in subordinate clauses.
Haben or Sein
Most verbs take haben as the helper. Use sein with verbs of motion, change of state, and a few small intransitives. Returning transatives and all reflexives take haben.
| German Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ☕️ Ich habe Kaffee getrunken. | I drank coffee. | Haben with coffee (transitive) |
| 🚶♂️ Ich bin zum Café gelaufen. | I ran to the café. | Sein with movement (intransitive) |
| 🛵 Sie ist mit dem Roller angekommen. | She arrived by scooter. | Sein with change of location |
| 🍰 Wir haben Kuchen gekauft. | We bought cake. | Haben with direct object |
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Past Participle
The past participle normally adds ge- at the front and -t or -en at the end. Strong verbs use vowel changes and sometimes add -en. Verbs that end in -ieren drop the ge-.
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Examples
| German Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| ☀️ Heute Morgen habe ich Croissants gekauft. | This morning I bought croissants. |
| 🚌 Der Bus ist spät gekommen. | The bus came late. |
| 🍵 Wir haben Tee im Park getrunken. | We drank tea in the park. |
| 🎨 Sie ist früh zum Malkurs gegangen. | She went early to the painting class. |
Signal Words
Signal words like gestern, vor kurzem, letzte Woche and schon often appear with Perfekt. They cue listeners that the speaker is recounting recent or relevant past events.
| German Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| 🕒 Vor einer Stunde habe ich Kuchen gegessen. | An hour ago I ate cake. |
| 🌙 Gestern Abend haben wir Kaffee getrunken. | Yesterday evening we drank coffee. |
| 🗓️ Letzte Woche bin ich in ein neues Café gegangen. | Last week I went to a new café. |
| ⏪ Schon vorher hatte ich den Tisch reserviert. | I had already reserved the table before. |
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Summary
Perfekt tells about completed actions using haben or sein plus a past participle. It dominates spoken German for past events and appears in narratives that focus on relevant or recent happenings.
Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025