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
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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
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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
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She worked over the weekend
Sie arbeitete übers Wochenende
The imperfect is used to talk about the past
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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
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She always called me on Fridays
Sie rief mich immer freitags an
rufen is a strong verb
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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
How is the imperfect of mixed verbs formed in German?
The weak verb endings are added to a stem whose vowel has been changed
Conjugate in the imperfect tense
kennen (to know)
- ich kannte
- du kanntest
- er kannte
- wir kannten
- ihr kanntet
- sie/Sie kannten
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He didn’t know the city
Er kannte die Stadt nicht
kennen is a mixed verb
Conjugate in the imperfect tense
bringen (to bring)
- ich brachte
- du brachtest
- er brachte
- wir brachten
- ihr brachtet
- sie/Sie brachten
bringen has a vowel change and a consonant change in the imperfect
Conjugate in the imperfect tense
denken (to think)
- ich dachte
- du dachtest
- er dachte
- wir dachten
- ihr dachtet
- sie/Sie dachten
denken has a vowel change and a consonant change in the imperfect
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I was very sad when she left
Ich war ganz traurig, als sie wegging
The imperfect can be use to describe what things were like
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What have you done today?
Was hast du heute gemacht?
The perfect tense is used to describe completed actions
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There was a big problem with drugs back then
Damals gab es ein großes Problem mit Drogen
The imperfect can be use to describe what things were like
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We took a walk every day
Wir machten jeden Tag einen Spaziergang
The imperfect can be use to describe what we used to do
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He arrived too late to attend
Er kam zu spät, um teilnehmen zu können
The imperfect is used for past actions with no link to the present
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She had been employed as a teacher since her marriage
Sie war seit ihrer Heirat als Lehrerin beschäftigt
With seit/seitdem, German uses the imperfect whereas English uses “had”
