Formhaben/sein (Position 2) … ge- + Verbstamm + -en (Ende)
Meaning and usage
Many German verbs form the past participle with ge- at the front and -en at the end: gegessen, getrunken, geschrieben. The vowel in the middle often changes, so the participle looks different from the infinitive. You use this form with haben or sein to talk about the past.
The participle stands at the very end of the sentence: Ich habe einen Film gesehen. The mistake to avoid is putting the participle in the middle or forgetting the ge- at the start.
Examples 5
Ich habe gestern einen Film gesehen.
I watched a film yesterday.
Letzte Nacht habe ich einen Brief geschrieben.
Last night I wrote a letter.
Ich habe dieses Buch noch nicht gelesen.
I haven't read this book yet.
Bist du heute in die Schule gegangen?
Did you go to school today?
Ich bin noch nie in Paris gewesen.
I've never been to Paris.
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
Wir haben gestern Pizza .
Show answer
Correct answer: gegessen
gegessen is the past participle of essen: ge- plus the changed stem plus -en. It belongs at the end of the sentence after haben.
- essen is the infinitive, so it cannot stand after haben in the perfect.
- isst is the present tense form for er/sie/es, not a past participle.
- geesst is not a real form; essen is a strong verb and does not take -t here.
In this topic: Perfect tense
- haben + … + Partizip most verbs form the perfect with haben
- gemacht: ge- … -t regular verbs: ge- + stem + -t
- gegessen: ge- … -en strong verbs: ge- + stem + -en
- angerufen, eingekauft Separable verbs: ge- goes inside the verb
- studiert, besucht No ge- in participles of -ieren and inseparable verbs
- sein + … + gefahren went, came, arrived: movement in the perfect
- war, hatte was, were, had (simple past of sein and haben)
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.