Verbs in the past tense in the German language are used in three forms: colloquial (Perfekt), book (Imperfekt, or Praeteritum), as well as a special preceding “plusquerfect”. What attracts students of the language of Schiller and Goethe is that the rules of use are not so strict. So, for example, in the north of Germany colloquially often used preterite. In Austria and Switzerland they will often say in perfection.
Conversational past tense
In speech, Perfect is used to convey past events. In Russian, it is called "past perfect tense." Perfect is formed using the auxiliary verb haben or sein + past participle. For weak verbs, Partizip II is unchanged, formed by adding the prefix ge- and suffix -t to the base of the verb. For example: machen - gemacht; malen - gemalt. Irregular verbs in the past tense in the German language defy logical explanation. Their form must be remembered. For example: gehen - gegangen, lessen - gelesen.
As for the use of one or another auxiliary verb, the rule here is as follows:
- For verbs of movement and state change, sein is used. Gehen, fahren, einschlafen, aufstehen, sterben - go, ride, fall asleep, get up, die.
- Modal verbs are used with haben. As well as the impersonal man, which is often combined into one group with modal ones. Example: Man hat geschneit. - It was snowing. Or Man hat es mir geschmeckt. “I tasted good.”
- Verbs with a sich reflexive particle are used with haben. For example: I washed, I shaved. - Ich hab mich gewaschen, ich hab mich rasiert.
- Transitive verbs. Ich hab das buch gelesen. - I was reading a book. Er hat ferngesehen. - He was watching TV.
It is worth paying attention to the fact that the rules for using auxiliary verbs in Germany and other countries differ. So, in Austria, Switzerland, Bavaria, South Tyrol (Italy) the verbs sit, lie, stand are used with sein. Although here we do not see any change in state:
- Ich bin gesessen - I was sitting.
- Mein Freund ist auf dem Bett gelegen - My friend was lying on the bed.
- Wir sind eine Stunde lang im Regen gestanden - We stood in the rain for an hour.
In Germany (and in its northern and central parts, not in Bavaria), auxiliary haben is used in these cases.
Preterite
For past tense verbs in German, Praeterit is used in the narrative and mass media texts. This is the so-called book version of the past.
Forming such a form for regular verbs is very simple. You just need to add the suffix -t after the base.
Compare: I study. - Ich studiert. But: I studied. - Ich studierte.
Personal endings are the same as for the present, except for a single person on the third day. There the form coincides with the first person.
Compare: I studied and he studied. - Ich studierte und er studierte.
We also use the past tense when telling a fairy tale to our child, telling a biography of some famous person. Sometimes you can talk in preter and in colloquial speech. For example, if you tell your friends about how you spent your vacation. For example: Ich war in Thailand. - I was in Thailand. Ich ging oft zum Strand. - I often went to the beach.
It is worth paying attention to the fact that, despite the fact that the language of the narration is a simple past, in books and stories one can still find perfection. It is used if the dialogue contains a dialogue of two or more heroes.
Plus-amp use
The complex temporary form in the German language is the so-called Plusquamperfect. It is used to emphasize the relationship between the two actions that occurred in the past. Also used to indicate that one action stems from another.
Usually used with past tense verbs. In German, to emphasize the correlation of these actions, words are used then (dann), then (nachdem), earlier (frueher), a month ago (vor einem Monat), a year ago (vor einem Jahr) and others.
Examples:
- Meine Freundin rief mich an und sagte mir, dass sie vor einem Monat nach Wien gefahren war. - My friend called and told me that a month ago she left for Vienna.
- Nachdem ich die Uni absolviert hatte, fang ich mit der Arbeit an. - After I graduated from university, I started working.
- Mein Freund hatte die Fachschule beendet, dann trat er ins Institut ein. - First, my friend graduated from college, then went to college.
Modal tenses of the German language in the past tense
Mostly Modal Verbe are used in simple preter. This facilitates speech, you do not have to speak as many as three verbs, if you use the perfect.
Compare: He should not have lied. - Er sollte nicht luegen. Ich hat nicht lugen gesollt. The second phrase is much more difficult to understand.
The past tense form for modal verbs is constructed simply. You just need to remove all umlauts and stems, add the suffix -t and a personal ending, and you will get conjugation of verbs in the past tense. The German language, in principle, is very logical.
The exception is the verb moegen. For him, the past tense is mochte. I love reading newspapers. - Ich mag Zeitungen lesen. But: I loved reading newspapers. - Jch mochte Zeitungen lesen.
How to learn past tense in German
The most common form is perfection, so it should be learned first. If there are no problems with the correct verbs and everything is easy to remember, then it is better to learn the wrong ones in the form of a table. There are certain patterns, for example, “group ei - ie -i e”: Bleiben - blieb - geblieben; schreiben - schrieb - geschrieben, steigen - stieg - gestiegen. You can break down all known verbs into similar subgroups and memorize them.
Such a table can be taken at first every time you come to a German lesson. Verbs in the past tense are easiest to remember in this way.
As for auxiliary sein and haben, it is easiest to memorize a group of the former. Such verbs are much smaller. That is why it will be easier to remember them. The conjugation of verbs in the past tense of the German language must be memorized with the auxiliary. This is also displayed in dictionaries. If in brackets next to the verb is (s), then the auxiliary verb will be sein, and if (h), then haben.