Verbs: Past Tense

01

Spoken vs. Written German

In everyday conversation, emails to friends, and text messages, German speakers almost exclusively use the Perfect tense. This is formed using a helper verb (usually haben or sein) combined with the past participle at the end of the sentence.

• Ich habe Fußball gespielt.

  I played football.

• Er ist nach Hause gegangen.

  He went home.

The Preterite (simple past), on the other hand, is primarily a literary narrative tense. You will encounter it in novels, newspaper reports, and formal storytelling.

• Er spielte Fußball.

  He played football.

• Sie ging nach Hause.

  She went home.

02

The Exceptions: Sein and Haben

There are two major exceptions to the "spoken vs. written" rule. The verbs sein (to be) and haben (to have) are almost always used in the Preterite form, even in spoken conversation.

While it is grammatically possible to use the Perfect tense for these verbs (e.g., ich bin gewesen), native speakers prefer the Preterite forms (ich war) because they are shorter and sound more natural.

03

Conjugation of Sein (To Be)

The past tense stem of sein is war-. Note that the first person (ich) and third person (er/sie/es) forms are identical.

• ich war (I was)
• du warst (you were)
• er/sie/es war (he/she/it was)
• wir waren (we were)
• ihr wart (you were - plural/informal)
• sie waren (they were)
• Sie waren (you were - formal)

• Gestern war ich sehr müde.

  Yesterday I was very tired.

• Wo wart ihr im Urlaub?

  Where were you guys on vacation?

• Das Wetter war schön.

  The weather was nice.

04

Conjugation of Haben (To Have)

The past tense stem of haben is hatte-. Like sein, the first and third person singular forms are the same.

• ich hatte (I had)
• du hattest (you had)
• er/sie/es hatte (he/she/it had)
• wir hatten (we had)
• ihr hattet (you had - plural/informal)
• sie hatten (they had)
• Sie hatten (you had - formal)

• Ich hatte keine Zeit.

  I had no time.

• Hattest du gestern Geburtstag?

  Did you have a birthday yesterday?

• Wir hatten Glück.

  We had luck.

05

Modal Verbs

Similar to haben and sein, modal verbs (such as können, müssen, wollen, and dürfen) also prefer the Preterite form in spoken German. Using the Perfect tense with modals creates complex sentence structures that are usually avoided in speech.

• Ich musste arbeiten.

  I had to work.

• Er wollte nicht kommen.

  He did not want to come.

• Konntest du ihn sehen?

  Could you see him?