THE PERFECT TENSE

To talk about actions completed in the past, Germans use the perfect tense.
 

Some verbs use a form of sein as an auxiliary (helping verb) in the front bracket to form the perfect; most use a form of haben. The end bracket is the so-called past participle of the verb.

Past Participle Types: Ending in -t, Ending in -n

There are two types of German past participles:

1) those ending in -n, (angekommen)

2) those ending in -t. (gehört)

Infinitives ending in -ieren have a past participle ending -iert.

Except for -ieren-verbs, the infinitive form of the verb does not reveal how its participle will end. The participle class must be memorized with the verb itself. Starting in this chapter of the program, the n-class past participles (with their auxiliaries) are listed in the Vocabulary Notes. The formation of t-class participles is regular and explained below.

Principal Parts: Formation of Perfect Tense

To aid in memorization, especially with n-class verbs, grammars list the so-called principal parts of verbs. Principal parts provide the basis for forming all the other tenses of that verb. The principal parts are listed in the following order:
 

t-Class Verbs, Weak Verbs, Regular Verbs

Most German verbs take the past participle ending -t. The vowels of t-class verbs never vary. If a verb is listed without principal parts in the vocabulary, it is a t-class verb. Other names for t-class verbs are weak verbs or regular verbs.

Formation of t-Class Past Participles

To form the past participle of t-class verbs, apply the general rule to the infinitive, then apply the special rules.

GENERAL RULE: Replace final -en with -t. (If the infinitive ends in -den or -ten, replace only -n with -t.)

SPECIAL RULE A: If the result ends in -iert, do nothing else.
 

SPECIAL RULE B: If the verb begins with the prefix be-, ent-, er-, ge-, ver-, or unstressed wieder-, do nothing else.
 

SPECIAL RULE C: If the verb begins with a stressed prefix, insert -ge- between the prefix and the stem.
 

SPECIAL RULE D: For all remaining verbs, add ge- to the beginning.
 

In subsequent program lessons, n-class verbs will be listed with their principal parts in the Vocabulary Notes.

The Perfect Auxiliaries sein vs. haben

The verbs sein and bleiben use sein as the perfect auxiliary.
 

Verbs expressing motion toward a destination use sein as the perfect auxiliary.
 

The remaining verbs use haben as the perfect auxiliary.