The Perfect Tense
In English the perfect tense is formed by the auxiliary verb have and the past participle of a verb.
Example:
| I have learned |
| You have worked |
| He has seen |
| They have spoken |
Now observe the perfect tense in German, noticing the similarities and differences:-
| ICH HABE gestern zu Hause GEARBEITET. |
| DU HAST deine Hausaufgaben GEMACHT. |
| ER HAT einen neuen Film GESEHEN. |
| SIE IST nach Griechenland GEFAHREN. |
1. With most verbs the perfect tense is formed by using part of haben and the past participle of the main verb.
| ich habe | gemacht | = i have made |
| auxiliary | past participle |
2. With some verbs the perfect tense is formed by using part of sein and the past participle of the main verb.
| ich bin | gegangen | = i have gone |
| auxiliary | past participle |
Some important verbs which have sein as the auxiliary
| SEIN | ich bin gewesen | = i have been |
| WERDEN | ich bin geworden | = i have become |
| BLEIBEN | ich bin gebieben | = i have remained |
| GEHEN | ich bin gegangen | = i have gone |
| FAHREN | ich bin gefahren | = i have gone (by transport) |
| KOMMEN | ich bin gekommen | = i have come |
| LAUFEN | ich bin gelaufen | = i have run |
3. The past participle stands at the end of the sentence or clause.
Example:
Gestern habe ich den neuen film gesehen
Ich bin gestern in die Stadt gegangen, um den neuen Film zu sehen
4. How to form the past participle.
i) Weak Verbs
Add GE before the stem of the verb
Add T after the stem of the verb
Example:
| MACHen | GEmachT |
| KAUFen | GEkaufT |
When the stem ends in T or D then add ET to form the past participle.
Example:
| ARBEITen | GEmachT |
| REDen | GEkaufT |
Remember also:
| ÖFFNen | GeöffnET |
| RECHnen | GErechnET |
ii) Strong Verbs
The past participle of each strong verb must be learnt seperatley.
However, remember that it ends in -EN.
Example:
| Singen | gesungEN |
| Finden | gefundEN |
iii) Separable Verbs
The GE stands between the separable prefix and the rest of the verb.
Example:
| AUFmachen | aufGEmacht |
| AUSsehen | ausGEsehen |
iv) Inseparable Verbs
All verbs which begin with BE-, EMP-, ENT-, ER-, GE-, VER-, ZER-, also thos verbs which end in - IEREN do not have ge- in the past participle.
Example:
| VERkaufen | verkauft |
| ZERschneiden | zerschnitten |
| VERstehen | verstanden |
| Bezahlen | bezahlt |
| amusieren | amusiert |
| trainieren | trainiert |