Present Perfect Tense or Past Indefinite Tense

Question 1

Present Perfect/Past Indefinite Tense

Answer 1

This tense is used more often than the simple past, especially inconversation, and is equivalent toI have doneorI did.Regular verbs use aform ofhaben or sein and a past participle. Past participles are made by addingge-to the beginning of the verb stem and-t(or -et, if stem ends in -t or -d) to the end.

Examples:
Fragenis to ask, and -frag-is the stem; thereforegefragtis the past participle.
Arbeitenis to work, and-arbeit-is the stem; thereforegearbeitetis the past participle.
Machenis to do/make, and-mach-is the stem; thereforegemachtis the past participle.

Question 2

-ieren

Answer 2

Verbs ending in-ierenonly add the-tending. Studierenis to study andstudier-is the stem, sostudiertis the past participle.

Question 3

Where haben or sein should be placed:

Answer 3

The formof haben or sein is placed where the verb should be, and the past participle goes to the end of the sentence. Ex: Ich habe meinen Bruder gefragt-I asked my brother.

Question 4

Haben or Sein?

Answer 4

Most verbs use haben, but a few use sein, if and only if, both of these conditions are met:

1. The verb expresses motion or change of condition.
2. The verb is intransitive (i.e. cannot take a direct object.)

Question 5

Double Infinitive:

Answer 5

Double Infinitive:Whenmodalsare used in the present perfect tense with a dependent infinitive, the past participle is not used. The infinitive of the modal acts as the past participle. Logically,I had to go home would be translated asich habe nach Hause gehen gemußt. However, it is actuallyIch habe nach Hausegehen müssen. When there is no other infinitive in the sentence, then the past participles of the modals are used.I had towould be translated asIch habe gemußt.

Question 6

Modals/Reflexive Verbs:

Answer 6

All modals, as well as reflexive verbs, use haben in the present perfect tense. The reflexive pronouns follow the auxiliary verb as inIch habe mir den Arm gebrochen. I broke my arm.

Question 7

Separable Prefixes:

Answer 7

With separableprefixes, theprefixcomesbeforethege-in a past participle, such asangekommenandaufgestanden. From the participle of the base verb, and then add theprefixto the beginning. But note that theprefixdoes change the entire meaning of the verb, and it may take a different auxiliary verb than its base verb. For example,stehentakes haben, butaufstehentakes sein.

Question 8

Inseparable Prefixes:

Answer 8

With inseparableprefixes, whether the verb is regular or irregular, there isno ge-prefixwhenformingthe past participle, such asbesuchtandverloren.

Question 9

Exceptions:

Answer 9

To express something that has been going on or happening for a period of time, German using the present tense (rather than the past) and the wordschon. “I have been studying German for two years” translatestoIch studiere Deutsch schon zwei Jahre.