It also contains a table about the different names used for each tense and a table about when to use each tense (including the present tense and the future tense). You can download the transcript of the Past Tense podcasts here:
Click here for the pdf version of the podcast about how to use the perfect tense.
Or click here for the transcript in web page form.
Click here for the pdf version of the podcast about when to use the perfect tense.
Or click here for the transcript in web page form.
Click here for the pdf version of the podcast about the simple past.
Or click here for the transcript in web page form.
Click here for the pdf version of the podcast about the pluperfect.
Or click here for the transcript in web page form.
| ich habe es getan | ich tat es | ich hatte es getan |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| English | perfect tense | imperfect tense | pluperfect |
| German | Perfekt | Imperfekt | Plusquamperfekt |
| English | present perfect tense | simple past | past perfect |
| English | conversational past | narrative past | past anterior |
| German | Präteritum | Vorvergangenheit | |
| English | preterite | ||
| German | vollendete Vergangenheit |
| Situation | Pluperfect (Ich hatte es getan) |
Simple Past (Ich tat es) |
Perfect Tense (Ich habe es getan) |
Present tense (Ich tue es) |
Future Tense (Ich werde es tun) |
| Present tense | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Future tense | N | N | N | Y | Y |
| Past tenses in spoken German | Restricted to certain situations | Mainly only certain verbs or in certain situations | Y (except certain verbs and/or situations) | See below | N |
| Past tenses in written German | Restricted to certain situations | Y | In certain situations | See below | N |
| The pluperfect (the I had done tense) | Y | Sometimes | N | N | N |
| The past in the future, e.g. I will have done my homework by tomorrow | N | N | Y | N | Sort of - you can add in a werden to the perfect tense form. |
| Past events that still have an impact on the present, e.g. My gran has arrived (and she's still staying with us) | N | Headlines & relative clauses only | Y - Preferred | N | N | Events that started in the past, but are still continuing at the moment of speaking, e.g. I've been living in London for 7 years | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Events that started in the distant past, but are still continuing in the more recent past being described, e.g. Since I had lived in Munich I had been visiting him a lot | N | Y | N | N | N |
| Most negative sentences about events that started in the past, but are still continuing at the moment of speaking, e.g. The parcel hasn't arrived yet | N | N | Y | N | N |
| Most negative sentences about events that started in the distant past, but are still continuing in the moment being described, e.g. He hadn't been told about her | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Negative sentences about events that started in the past, but are still continuing at the moment of speaking, where there is sense of an ongoing event, e.g. He's been unemployed since Christmas | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Sentences about repeated (not continuous) events in the past, e.g. He's been ill several times since Christmas | N | N | Y | N | N |
| Instructions | Example 1 | Example 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Take your infinitive | kaufen | warten |
| Add a ge- on the front | ge+kaufen | ge+warten |
| Switch the n or en on the end for a t | gekauft | gewartet |
| German Infinitive | German Past Participle | English Infinitive |
| machen | gemacht | to make/to do |
| sagen | gesagt | to say/to tell |
| kaufen | gekauft | to buy |
| warten | gewartet | to wait |
| kommen | gekommen | to come |
| sehen | gesehen | to see |
| schlafen | geschlafen | to sleep |
| tun | getan | to do |
| gehen | gegangen | to go |
| essen | gegessen | to eat |
| trinken | getrunken | to drink |
| bleiben | geblieben | to stay |
| schreiben | geschrieben | to write |
| denken | gedacht | to think |
| werden | geworden | to become |
| werden | worden | the verb you use to form the perfect tense in a passive sentence |
| intransitive verbs of motion (plus some transitive verbs ending in gehen) |
| verbs of positon (south of Frankfurt only) |
| intransitive change-of-state verbs |
| verbs meaning to succeed, to fail, to happen, to be and to stay |
| Infinitive | ich/er/sie/es | du | wir/Sie/sie | ihr | Translatation (Infinitive) | Where? |
| Auxiliary Verbs: | ||||||
| haben | hatte | hattest | hatten | hattet | to have | All |
| sein | war | warst | waren | wart | to be | All |
| werden | wurde | wurdest | wurden | wurdet | become/passive auxiliary | C&N Germany |
| Modal Verbs: | ||||||
| können | konnte | konntest | konnten | konntet | can | All |
| dürfen | durfte | durftest | durften | durftet | may | All |
| müssen | musste | musstest | mussten | musstet | must | All |
| sollen | sollte | solltest | sollten | solltet | should | All |
| wollen | wollte | wolltest | wollten | wolltet | to want | All |
| mögen | mochte | mochtest | mochten | mochtet | to like | All |
| Other Common Verbs: | ||||||
| bleiben | blieb | bliebst | blieben | bliebt | to stay | C&N Germany |
| gehen | ging | gingst | gingen | gingt | to go | C&N Germany |
| kommen | kam | kamst | kamen | kamt | to come | C&N Germany |
| stehen | stand | standst | standen | standet | to stand | C&N Germany |
| Verbs of Saying, Thinking & Feeling: | ||||||
| sagen | sagte | sagtest | sagten | sagtet | to say | C&N Germany |
| denken | dachte | dachtest | dachten | dachtet | to think | C&N Germany |
| fühlen | fühlte | fühltest | fühlten | fühltet | to feel | C&N Germany |
You create the pluperfect by taking the perfect tense and turning the auxiliary verb into the simple past version of itself. Here are examples for a verb that takes haben and for a verb that takes sein:
| Haben Verb | Translation | Sein Verb | Translation |
| ich hatte ihn gesehen | I had seen him | ich war gesprungen | I had jumped |
| du hattest ihn gesehen | you (informal singular) had seen him | du warst gesprungen | you (informal singular) had jumped |
| er hatte ihn gesehen | he had seen him | er war gesprungen | he had jumped |
| sie hatte ihn gesehen | she had seen him | sie war gesprungen | she had jumped |
| es hatte ihn gesehen | it had seen him | es war gesprungen | we had jumped |
| wir hatten ihn gesehen | we had seen him | wir waren gesprungen | we had jumped |
| ihr hattet ihn gesehen | you (informal plural) had seen him | ihr wart gesprungen | you (informal plural) had jumped |
| sie hatten ihn gesehen | they had seen him | sie waren gesprungen | they had jumped |
| Sie hatten ihn gesehen | you (formal singular or plural) had seen him | Sie waren gesprungen | you (formal singular or plural) had jumped |