A1 · Grammar · Perfekt
German Perfect Tense: haben or sein, and How to Build the Participle
The ruleSpoken German talks about the past in the perfect: haben or sein in second position, the past participle at the very end.
Building the participle
Three patterns, and which one applies is a property of the verb you have to learn with it, though the shape of the infinitive gives most of it away.
| Verb type | Pattern | Infinitive | Participle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weak (regular) | ge- + stem + -t | machen | gemacht |
| Strong | ge- + stem + -en | sehen | gesehen |
| Mixed | ge- + changed stem + -t | bringen | gebracht |
| Ends in -ieren | no ge- | studieren | studiert |
| Inseparable prefix | no ge- | verstehen | verstanden |
| Separable prefix | ge- goes inside | anrufen | angerufen |
The ge- is dropped whenever the first syllable is unstressed, which is exactly what unites -ieren verbs and the inseparable prefixes be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver- and zer-. Say the infinitive out loud and the rule follows from the stress.
haben or sein
Most verbs take haben. sein is for a small, very common group: verbs of movement from one place to another, verbs of change of state, and three irregulars.
| Takes de|sein | Examples | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| Movement to somewhere | gehen, fahren, kommen, fliegen, laufen | Ich bin nach Hause gegangen. |
| Change of state | aufwachen, einschlafen, sterben, wachsen | Er ist eingeschlafen. |
| The three exceptions | sein, bleiben, werden | Ich bin dort gewesen. |
Everything else takes haben, including all reflexive verbs and every verb with a direct object, however much movement it describes: Ich habe das Auto gefahren, because das Auto is the object.
Where it goes wrong
Ich habe nach Berlin gefahren.
Ich bin nach Berlin gefahren.
fahren with no object describes movement from one place to another, so it takes sein. Add an object and it flips: Ich habe meinen Bruder nach Berlin gefahren: I drove my brother to Berlin.
Where the parts sit
- Ich habe gestern einen Film gesehen. I watched a film yesterday. Auxiliary second, participle last, everything else between.
- Wann bist du angekommen? When did you arrive? In a question the auxiliary moves to first or second position; the participle does not move.
- Ich weiß, dass er gekommen ist. I know that he came. In a subordinate clause the auxiliary drops to the very end, behind the participle.
When Germans use it
In speech, for essentially all past events, including ones English would put in a simple past. The one systematic exception is sein, haben and the modals, which are normally used in the preterite even in conversation: Ich war müde and Ich hatte keine Zeit are far commoner than their perfect forms.
Test yourself
4 questions on this
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1 Partizip II von 'erzählen' Sprachbausteine
Sagen haben die Leute lange Zeit immer nur weiter .
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Correct answer: erzählt
Das Partizip II von 'erzählen' ist 'erzählt'.
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2 Partizip II von 'eintragen' Sprachbausteine
Früher wurden Kinder in den Pass ihrer Eltern .
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3 Partizip II im Perfekt Sprachbausteine
Noch lange nach seinem Tod haben die deutschen Philosophen viel von Kant .
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Correct answer: gelernt
Das Perfekt wird mit 'haben' + Partizip II gebildet.
Read the full text: Immanuel Kant
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4 Partizip II Sprachbausteine
In manchen Städten sind die Politiker und Mitarbeiter in ein neues Gebäude .
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Common questions
When do I use haben and when sein in the perfect?
sein goes with verbs describing movement from one place to another (gehen, fahren, fliegen), verbs describing a change of state (einschlafen, aufwachen, sterben), and sein, bleiben and werden. Everything else takes haben, including movement verbs that have taken a direct object.
Why does 'studieren' have no ge- in its participle?
Because ge- only attaches to a stressed first syllable. Verbs in -ieren are stressed on the -ier-, and inseparable prefixes (be-, ver-, ent-, er-, zer-, emp-, miss-) are unstressed too, so neither takes ge-. studiert, verstanden, bekommen.
Is the perfect the same as the English present perfect?
No, and assuming so causes trouble. German uses the perfect for finished past events where English would use the simple past: 'Ich habe ihn gestern gesehen' is 'I saw him yesterday', not 'I have seen him yesterday'. German has a separate preterite, but in speech it is reserved mainly for sein, haben and the modals.
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