Das Präteritum
The Präteritum is also called "narrative past" and, together with the perfect tense, forms the past tense. The past tense, also known as the imperfect, is mainly used in written texts. For example, in newspapers, magazines, literature, stories, fairy tales, but also in the news, on television, or the radio.
The perfect tense, on the other hand, is used in spoken language to express facts and actions in the past.
Examples:
Präteritum
Perfekt
The past tense of regular verbs
| Person | Verb stem | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
ich (I)
| lernen |
-te |
Ich lernte meine Frau vor 5 Jahren kennen. (I met my wife 5 years ago.)
| |
| du (you) | lernen | -test | Du lerntest Deutsch in der Schule. (You learned German at school.) |
| er/sie/es (he/she/it) | lernen | -te | Er lernte im Judo sich zu verteidigen. (He learned to defend himself in judo.) |
| wir (we) | lernen | -ten | Wir lernten im Urlaub viele neue Leute kennen. (We met a lot of new people on vacation.) |
| ihr (you) | lernen | -tet | Lerntet ihr damals Russisch? (Did you learn Russian back then?) |
| sie/Sie (they) | lernen | -ten | Sie lernten im Deutschkurs die Uhrzeiten. (They learned the times in the German course.) |
Particularities:
If the verb stem ends with -t;- d; -m* or -n*(* except for verbs with the ending -ln or -rn; e.g. ringing, trembling), there would be a pronunciation problem with the formation of the past tense.
This is the case with these verbs, for example,
| Person | Verb stem | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | antworten (answer) | -ete | Damals antwortete ich per Brief. (At that time I replied by letter.) |
| du | warten (wait) | -etest | Du wartetest auf das Taxi. (You waited for the taxi.) |
| er/sie/es | beobachten (observe) | -ete | Der Polizist beobachtete die Jugendlichen. (The policeman was watching the teenagers.) |
| wir | heiraten (marry) | -eten | Wir heirateten am Strand in Costa Rica. (We got married on the beach in Costa Rica.) |
| ihr | arbeiten (work) | -etet | Ihr arbeitetet sehr lange an der Masterarbeit. (You worked on the master’s thesis for a very long time.) |
| sie/Sie | atmen (breathe) | -eten | Die Marathonläufer atmeten sehr schnell. (The marathon runners breathed very quickly.) |
The past tense of the modal verbs
The modal verbs are also often used in spoken language in the past tense, as it is easier and shorter than the perfect tense.
| Infinitive | Präteritum | ich er/sie/es |
du | wir sie/Sie |
ihr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dürfen (be allowed to) | durften | durfte | durftest | durften | durftet |
| können (can) | konnten | konnte | konntest | konnten | konntet |
| mögen (like) | mochten | mochte | mochtest | mochten | mochtet |
| möchten*(would like) | wollten | wollte | wolltest | wollten | wolltet |
| müssen (have to) | mussten | musste | musstest | mussten | musstet |
| sollen (should) | sollten | sollte | solltest | sollten | solltet |
| wollen (want) | wollten | wollte | wolltest | wollten | wolltet |
The past tense of the irregular verbs:
Some irregular verbs such as "haben", "sein", and "werden" are used very often because they also serve as auxiliary verbs. You should know the past tense forms of the following verbs:
| Person | sein (to be) | haben (to have) | schlafen (to sleep) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | war | hatte | schlief |
| du | warst | hattest | schliefst |
| er/sie/es | war | hatte | schlief |
| wir | waren | hatten | schliefen |
| ihr | wart | hattet | schlieft |
| sie/Sie | waenr | hatten | schliefen |
Rule of thumb:
In the spoken language, the perfect tense is more common. Only "sein" (to be), "werden" (to become), "haben" (to have) and the modal verbs are used in the simple past!