Imperfekt – Past Tense in German Grammar

Question 1

Tell me about the Past Tense.

Answer 1

The past tense, also called simple past or imperfect (Imperfekt or Präteritum in German), is used to express facts and actions that started and ended in the past. It is typically used to tell stories or report past events in written German. In spoken language, it is common to use the perfect tense instead of the past tense.

Question 2

2. There are two ways to use the past tense in German, we can use it to express:

Answer 2

A completed action in the past.

Example: Im letzten Jahr machte ich Urlaub in Deutschland./Last year I went holiday in Germany.

Mit dem Fahrrad fuhr ich von Hamburg bis Dresden./I rode my bicycle from Hamburg to Dresden

Question 3

1. There are two ways to use the past tense in German, we can use it to express:

Answer 3

A fact or condition in the past

Example: Die Strecke war fantastisch und ich hatte tolles Wetter./The Route was fantastic and I had great weather.

Question 4

What is an important fact about haben/sein in the past tense?

Answer 4

In everyday spoken German, we still use the simple past of the verbs sein/haben to describe facts and conditions in the past.

Example: Die Strecke war fantastisch und ich hatte tolles Wetter.

Question 5

1. What is the first person singular form of (to learn) and (to see) in the simple past?

Answer 5

person - 1st person singular (ich)

weak verbs - (-te) ich lernte

strong/mixed verbs - (-) ich sah

Question 6

2. What is the second person singular form of (to learn) and (to see) in the simple past?

Answer 6

person - 2nd person singular (du)

weak verbs - (-test) du lerntest

strong/mixed verbs - (-st) du sahst

Question 7

3. What is the third person singular form of (to learn) and (to see) in the simple past?

Answer 7

person - 3rd person singular (er/sie/es/man)

weak verbs - (-te) er lernte

strong/mixed verbs - (–) er sah

Question 8

4. What is the first person plural form of (to learn) and (to see) in the simple past?

Answer 8

person - 1st person plural (wir)

weak verbs - (-ten) wir lernten

strong/mixed verbs - (-en) wir sahen

Question 9

5. What is the second person plural form of (to learn) and (to see) in the simple past?

Answer 9

person - 2nd person plural (ihr)

weak verbs - (-tet) ihr lerntet

strong/mixed verbs - (-t) ihr saht

Question 10

6. What is the third person plural form of (to learn) and (to see) in the simple past?

Answer 10

person - 3rd person plural/polite form (sie/Sie)

weak verbs - (-ten) sie lernten

strong/mixed verbs - (-en) sie sahen

Question 11

The verbs sein/haben are irregular. They are especially important in the simple past:

1. What is the first person singular form of (to be) and (to have) in the simple past?

Answer 11

person - 1st person singular (ich)

sein - ich war

haben - ich hatte

Question 12

The verbs sein/haben are irregular. They are especially important in the simple past:

2. What is the second person singular form of (to be) and (to have) in the simple past?

Answer 12

person - 2nd person singular (du)

sein - du warst

haben - du hattest

Question 13

The verbs sein/haben are irregular. They are especially important in the simple past:

3. What is the third person singular form of (to be) and (to have) in the simple past?

Answer 13

person - 3rd person singular (er/sie/es/man)

sein - er war

haben - er hatte

Question 14

The verbs sein/haben are irregular. They are especially important in the simple past:

4. What is the first person plural form of (to be) and (to have) in the simple past?

Answer 14

person - 1st person plural (wir)

sein - wir waren

haben - wir hatten

Question 15

The verbs sein/haben are irregular. They are especially important in the simple past:

5. What is the second person plural form of (to be) and (to have) in the simple past?

Answer 15

person - 2nd person plural (ihr)

sein - ihr wart

haben - ihr hattet

Question 16

The verbs sein/haben are irregular. They are especially important in the simple past:

6. What is the third person plural form of (to be) and (to have) in the simple past?

Answer 16

person - 3rd person plural/polite form (sie/Sie)

sein - sie waren

haben - sie hatten

Question 17

1. What is the first exception to conjugating verbs in the simple past?

Answer 17

Many strong/mixed (irregular) verbs change the word stem in the simple past.

Example: gehen – ging, bringen – brachte/to go - went, to bring - brought

Question 18

2. What is the second exception to conjugating verbs in the simple past?

Answer 18

If the word stem of a strong verb ends in s/ß/z, we either leave off the ending s, or we add an extra e.

Example: lesen – las – du last/du lasest/to read - read - you read

Question 19

3. What is the third exception to conjugating verbs in the simple past?

Answer 19

If the word stem ends in d/t, we add an e before the ending for endings that begin with t/st.

Example: landen – ich landete, du landetest, er landete, wir landeten, …/to land /I/you/he/we landed

bitten – ich bat, du batest, …, ihr batet/to request -I/you … you requested

Question 20

4. What is the fourth exception to conjugating verbs in the simple past?

Answer 20

If the word stem of a strong verb ends in ie, there is no ending e in the 1st/3rd person plural.

Example: schreien – wir/sie schrien (not: schrieen)/to scream - we/they screamed