FormStamm auf -t/-d (+ e) + -te
Meaning and usage
Some verbs have a stem that ends in -t or -d, such as arbeiten, warten, reden and kosten. Others end in -m or -n after a consonant, like öffnen and regnen. In the preterite these verbs add an extra e before the ending, so the -t of the stem and the -te of the ending stay separate and can be heard: ich arbeitete, du wartetest, er redete, sie öffnete, es regnete.
The usual mistake is to drop this linking e and write forms like ich arbeitte or er wartte, which are not German words. The opposite slip also happens: learners add an e where it does not belong, as in ich machete. Only stems ending in -t or -d, or in -m or -n after another consonant, take the extra e; a verb like machen stays machte.
Examples 6
Ich arbeitete den ganzen Tag auf der Farm.
I worked on the farm all day.
Ich wartete auf meinen Mann bis nach Mitternacht.
I waited for my husband till after midnight.
Es regnete zum ersten Mal seit zehn Tagen.
It rained for the first time in ten days.
Ich öffnete meinen Koffer und begann ihn auszupacken.
I opened my suitcase and started unpacking it.
Die fünf Brüder arbeiteten zusammen auf der Farm.
The five brothers worked together on the farm.
Es war warm; darum öffnete ich das Fenster.
It was warm, so I opened the window.
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
Gestern ich lange auf den Brief vom Amt.
Show answer
Correct answer: wartete
The stem of warten ends in -t, so the preterite needs the linking e: wartete.
- wartte This drops the linking e and is not a German form.
- warte This is the present tense, but gestern shows the sentence is about the past.
- warten This is the infinitive and cannot follow the pronoun ich as the verb in position two.
In this topic: Preterite
- machte, wohnte: Stamm + -te weak verbs form the preterite with -te
- arbeitete, redete, wartete adding a linking e before -te in the preterite
- ging, kam, sah past tense of strong verbs: stem vowel changes, no -te
- brachte, dachte, kannte, wusste mixed verbs change the vowel and add -te
- konnte, musste, wollte, durfte spoken past of the modals, without umlaut
- wurde: Er wurde Arzt. became, the past of werden as a full verb
- es gab there was, there were
- Er stand früh auf. Separable verbs split in the preterite too
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.