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Past tense: Perfect
Now we reached the 2nd form of past, which is called perfect tense. In German we call this also “Vollendete Gegenwart”. The perfect tense is the past, that students learn first. The reason is, that it is easier.
S + haben/sein + O + participle 2
So, the verb consists of two elements. The verb “haben” or “sein” and the participle 2 of our actual verb (in correct terms “finite verb”). Same as in English:
I have seen that movie. Easy, right? But the position is a bit different.
Example: Ich habe den Film gesehen.
You can see, the first verb is on position 2 (like a usual verb) and participle 2 is at the end. Position rules for questions are the same.
Example: Hast du den Film gesehen? Did you watch the movie?
Watch the following video to really master this topic!
How to build the participle 2
The perfect tense has some benefits.
1. haben/sein are very easy verbs to conjugate.
2. the participle 2 does not change, it does not matter if “She has seen…” or “They have seen…”
BUT the hard part is to learn the participle form because there are many irregularities. Watch them here:
Summary:
Strong verbs – usually formed with the prefix ge- and the ending -en. There is also often a vowel change.
Weak verbs – the verbs are placed in the 1st past (preterite) without the root vowel changing. An -(e)t is added at the end of participle II, the prefix ge- is added at the beginning, and the ending -t is added at the end.
Mixed verbs – change the root vowel in the 1st past (preterite) and participle II, but they have the endings of the weak verbs in both the 1st past (preterite) and participle II.
Separable verbs – can be regular or irregular. The participle II forms are formed according to the following principle: If the separable verb is regular, then: prefix + ge + verb stem + t. If the separable verb is irregular, then: prefix + ge + verb stem (often with vowel change!).
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