Was hast du gesagt? What did you say? Mastering the German Perfekt of Weak Verbs

In this post we’ll learn how to form the German Perfekt of weak verbs. The Perfekt – sometimes known as the conversational past – is one of the tenses you use in German to talk about the past. We’ll cover everything you need to know in order to form and use it. First, we’ll start by defining the differences between the two German past tenses, the Perfekt and the Präteritum. Then we’ll explain the three different kinds of verbs in German – weak, strong, and mixed. Next, we’ll explain how to form and use the German Perfekt of weak verbs. After that we’ll look at the difference between verbs that use haben (have) and sein (be) in the conversational past.  Finally, we’ll wrap up with a practice exercise. We’ll include plenty of examples throughout.

German Perfekt vs. Präteritum: What’s the Difference?

First, let’s start by defining the two different past tenses that you use in German. Those are the Perfekt, also known as the Conversational Past, and the Präteritum, also known as the Simple Past or Narrative Past. These tenses differ both in form and in use. The Perfekt is a compound tense, meaning it uses an auxiliary verb and a past participle. This is exactly like the English present perfect (has gone, have seen, etc.). The Präteritum is a simple tense, using just one word, like the English simple past (went, saw, etc.)

The difference in usage is not like in English, though. The Perfekt is typically a spoken tense, used in everyday speech or informal writing. The Präteritum is usually a more formal tense, used in written stories, news, and formal writing. But a few common verbs – haben (to have), sein (to be), werden (to become), modals like können (can) or wollen (want), and just a few other verbs – are typically used in the Präteritum even in spoken or informal language.

Here’s a summary of the differences between the German Perfekt and Präteritum.

Weak, Strong, and Mixed German Verbs

Now let’s turn to an important distinction when forming the German past tense.  German verbs are divided into three categories: weak, strong, and mixed. It’s important to know which category a verb belongs to, because that will determine how to form its simple past work (for the Präteritum) and its past participle (for the Perfekt.)

Weak Verbs

Weak verbs are regular verbs that take a simple ending in the past and past participle. An example is arbeiten (to work), gearbeitet (worked), arbeitete (worked). This is exactly like the regular/weak English verb work, which takes a regular –ed ending in both the past participle (has worked) and simple past (worked).

• Learn about the Präteritum/Narrative Past of Weak Verbs in this post.

Strong Verbs

Strong verbs are irregular verbs that have a vowel shift and do not take the regular –t– in the past tense. An example is essen (to eat), gegessen (eaten), aß (ate). This is exactly like the English verb eat, which has a vowel change in the past, and which doesn’t take the regular –ed ending.

• Learn about the Perfekt/Conversational Past of Strong Verbs in this post.
• Learn about the Präteritum/Narrative Past of Strong Verbs in this post.

Mixed Verbs

The last category of German verbs is mixed verbs. These verbs take the regular ending -t, like weak verbs, but they also have a vowel shift, like strong verbs. An example is denken (to think), gedacht (thought), dachte (thought). English verbs like think are similar to German mixed verbs. They have a vowel shift (think > thought) but also take the past ending –t. There aren’t many mixed verbs in either language, but since a few common verbs are mixed, you should learn them.

How to Form the German Perfekt of Weak Verbs

Now let’s turn to how to form the German Perfekt of weak verbs. These verbs are very regular and predictable, so they’re easy for beginners to tackle. All you need is the regular present tense conjugation of the auxiliary verb haben (to have), or in a few rare cases sein (to be), along with the past participle.

The past participle of weak verbs is very predictable. Just add ge– to the beginning, and –t to the end of the stem. If the verb stem ends in -d, –t, or a consonant cluster, add –et instead of just –t to make it pronounceable.

Example Sentences

Let’s see a few example sentences with the German Perfekt of weak verbs. Notice that the past participle goes to the end of the clause, and nicht typically comes right before the past participle.

• Ich habe gestern nicht gearbeitet.
  I didn’t work yesterday.
• Wir haben zu viele Kartoffeln gekauft.
  We bought too many potatoes.
• Die Kinder haben den ganzen Tag Videospiele gespielt.
  The kids played videogames all day long.
• Was hast du heute in der Schule gemacht?
  What did you do today at school?
• Was hat er gestern gemacht?
  What did he do yesterday?
• Ich habe die Wohnung geputzt, und danach habe ich gekocht.
  I cleaned the apartment, and then I cooked.
• Habt ihr am Wochenende Fußball gespiel?
  Did you play soccer/football this weekend?

Past Participles of Special Cases

There are three minor wrinkles to keep in mind when it comes to the ge– prefix on past participles. We’ll cover them here.

Separable Prefix Verbs

First are separable prefix verbs. These verbs take ge-, but it comes after the prefix and before the verb root.

Inseparable Prefix Verbs

Second are inseparable prefix verbs. These verbs do not take ge– at all in their past participles.

Verbs ending in –ieren

Third and finally, we have verbs that end in –ieren. These verbs do not take ge– either.

Example Sentences

Let’s see some more examples of the German conversational past.

• Sie haben ihr Haus verkauft.
  They sold their house.
• Ich habe die Augen zugemacht.
  I closed my eyes.
• Die Lehrerin hat alles erklärt.
  The teacher explained everything.
• Was hat sie an der Universität studiert?
  What did she study at university?
• Etwas schlechtes ist passiert.
  Something bad has happened.
• Ich bin heute Morgen spät aufgewacht.
  I woke up late this morning.
• Er hat das Fenster zugemacht.
  He shut the window.

Haben or Sein in the German Perfekt of Weak Verbs

Most weak verbs take haben as the auxiliary verb. The only German verbs that use sein in the Perfekt are verbs that describe some kind of change of location or state, as well as many intransitive verbs – verbs that don’t take a direct object. But the majority of those verbs are strong, for example gehen (to go [on foot]), fahren (to go [by some conveyance]), kommen (to come), fliegen (to fly), einschlafen (to fall sleep), and so on.

There are only a few regular/weak verbs that take sein in the past. Some examples that express movement are: reisen (to travel), wandern (to hike), klettern (to climb). Examples that express change of state are: passieren (to happen) and aufwachen (to wake up).

• Sie sind nach Spanien gereist.
  They traveled to Spain.
• Wir sind in den Bergen gewandert.
  We hiked in the mountains.
• Wir sind im Park spaziert.
  We went for a walk in the park.
• Was ist passiert?
  What happened?
• Das Baby ist noch nicht aufgewacht.
  The baby hasn’t woken up yet.

Practice

Finally, let’s practice. Change each sentence from the present to the Perfekt,and then translate. The answers are below.

1. Ich mache meine Hausaufgaben.
2. Du lernst Deutsch.
3. Er fragt den Lehrer.
4. Sie arbeitet im Garten.
5. Wir spielen Tennis.
6. Ihr öffnet die Tür.
7. Sie wohnen in Berlin.
8. Ich höre Musik.
9. Du sagst die Wahrheit.
10. Er glaubt mir nicht.
11. Wir reisen nach Wien.
12. Ihr tanzt gern.
13. Sie kauft Brot und Milch.
14. Ich antworte sofort.
15. Du wartest auf den Bus.

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Answer Key

1. Ich habe meine Hausaufgaben gemacht. (I did my homework.)
2. Du hast Deutsch gelernt. (You learned German.)
3. Er hat den Lehrer gefragt. (He asked the teacher.)
4. Sie hat im Garten gearbeitet. (She worked in the garden.)
5. Wir haben Tennis gespielt. (We played tennis.)
6. Ihr habt die Tür geöffnet. (You opened the door.)
7. Sie haben in Berlin gewohnt. (They lived in Berlin.)
8. Ich habe Musik gehört. (I listened to music.)
9. Du hast die Wahrheit gesagt. (You told the truth.)
10. Er hat mir nicht geglaubt. (He didn’t believe me.)
11. Wir sind nach Wien gereist. (We traveled to Vienna.)
12. Ihr habt gern getanzt. (You liked dancing.)
13. Sie hat Brot und Milch gekauft. (She bought bread and milk.)
14. Ich habe sofort geantwortet. (I answered immediately.)
15. Du hast auf den Bus gewartet. (You waited for the bus.)