Imperfect Tense Flashcards
How is the imperfect of weak verbs formed in German?
You use the stem of the present tense and add the endings :
- -te
- -test
- -te
- -ten
- -tet
- -ten
What is the imperfect tense used for?
The imperfect tense is used to talk about the past, especially descriptions and to say what used to happen.
It was sunny at the weekend
Conjugate in the imperfect tense
spielen (to play)
- ich spielte
- du spieltest
- er spielte
- wir spielten
- ihr spieltet
- sie/Sie spielten
Translate to German
She picked him up from work every day
Sie holte ihn jeden Tag von der Arbeit ab
The imperfect is used to talk about what used to happen
Translate to German
I usually did my homework before dinner
Normalerweise machte ich noch zum Abendessen meine Hausaufgaben
The imperfect is used to talk about what used to happen
Conjugate in the imperfect tense
arbeiten (to work)
- ich arbeitete
- du arbeitetest
- er arbeitete
- wir arbeiteten
- ihr arbeitetet
- sie/Sie arbeiteten
if the stem ends in -d, -t, -m, -n an -e is added
Translate to German
She worked over the weekend
Sie arbeitete übers Wochenende
The imperfect is used to talk about the past
Translate to German
You (familiar, plural) worked quite a lot
Ihr arbeitetet ganz schön viel
The imperfect is used to talk about the past
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She learned everything very quickly
Sie lernte alles ganz schnell
if the -m or -n has l,r or h in front of it, the -e is not a
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How is the imperfect of strong verbs formed in German?
Usually there is a vowel change in the stem and a different set of endings (-, -st, -, en, t, en)
Conjugate in the imperfect tense
rufen (to shout)
- ich rief
- du riefst
- er rief
- wir riefen
- ihr rieft
- sie/Sie riefen
Translate to German
She always called me on Fridays
Sie rief mich immer freitags an
rufen is a strong verb
Translate to German
They ran down the street
Sie liefen die Straße entlang
laufen is a strong verb
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You (familiar) sang a lot as a child
Als Kind sangst du viel
singen is a strong verb
Conjugate in the imperfect tense
sein (to be)
- ich war
- du warst
- er wart
- wir waren
- ihr wart
- wir waren
sein is irregular
