When and How to use the German Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense is used in spoken language instead of simple past tense. It is used to talk about an
event that happened in the past. We do tend to talk about our past many times. Now you know, why it is so
important to learn the German perfect tense!
The German perfect tense is built with the help of haben / sein in the present tense and past participle (Partizip
II) of another verb. The helping verb (Haben / Sein) is conjugated according to the subject of the sentence and
takes the second position. The past participle of the other verb is placed at the end of the sentence.
Usually, German perfect tense is formed with “haben“. Most of the verbs that take a direct object use haben.
Verbs that do not indicate change of state or location also use haben.

When to use “Sein”

Verbs that express movement and change of state use sein. What exactly does this mean? Movement means
when the subject physically changes the locations. For example, gehen, fahren, rennen, fliegen, kommen,
reisen, laufen etc.
Change of state means when the subject’s condition changes from ‘State A’ to ‘State B’. This change of
condition does not involve change of place. For example, einschlafen, aufwachen, wachsen, sterben,
verwelken, werden etc.
Go through our lesson on verbs if you don’t remember how to conjugate haben and sein in present tense.
Bleiben (to stay) and Sein (to be) also use sein, even though they do not express movement or change of state.

How to construct the Past Participles

When it comes to learning a new grammar concept in German language, there are always a few exceptions. And
German perfect tense is no different! The construction of past participles varies based on the types of verbs.

Regular Verbs
The past participles of weak (regular) verbs are formed by adding ‘ge‘ at the beginning and ‘t’ at the end of the
verb stem. Let’s consider the verb lernen (to learn). Its past participle will be:
ge + lern + t = gelernt
If the verb stem ends in d / t / m, the past participle is formed by adding ‘ge‘ at the beginning and an ‘et‘ at the
end. Let’s consider the verb warten (to wait). Its past participle will be:
ge + wart + et = gewartet
Past participles of the verbs ending in ‘ieren’ are formed without ‘ge’. However, we do add ‘t’ at the end of the
verb stem. Let’s consider the verb studieren (to study). Its past participle will be:
studier + t = studiert
 English Verb German Verb Partizip II

to work arbeiten gearbeitet

to breathe atmen geatmet

to form bilden gebildet

to need brauchen gebraucht

to follow folgen gefolgt

to ask fragen gefragt

to feel fühlen gefühlt

to believe glauben geglaubt

to interest interessieren interessiert

to buy kaufen gekauft

to cook kochen gekocht

to live leben gelebt

to lay legen gelegt

to make / do machen gemacht

to note down notieren notiert

to pack packen gepackt

to talk reden geredet

to say sagen gesagt

to play spielen gespielt

to put / place stellen gestellt

to search suchen gesucht

to dance tanzen getanzt

to call telefonieren telefoniert

to reside / live wohnen gewohnt

to show zeigen gezeigt

to be supposed to sollen gesollt

to want wollen gewollt

 Irregular Verbs
The past participles of strong (irregular) verbs are a bit complex. The ‘-en’ of the infinitive form remains as it
is. There is no ‘-t’ at the end of the verb stem. We do add ‘-ge’ at the beginning. But, here’s the complex part.
The verb stem changes most of the times.
For example, the past participle of gehen (to go) is gegangen.
Sometimes, the vowels in the verb stem get rearranged. For example, the past participle of bleiben (to stay)
is geblieben. Here, ‘ei’ changes to ‘ie’.

List of some irregular verbs for you to memorize: -

English German Partizip II

Verb Verb

to offer bieten geboten

to bite beißen gebissen

to bind binden gebunden

to request bitten gebeten

to roast / fry braten gebraten

to break brechen gebrochen

to eat essen gegessen

to drive fahren gefahren

to fall fallen gefallen

to catch fangen gefangen

to find finden gefunden

to fly fliegen geflogen

to give geben gegeben

to pour gießen gegossen

to grasp / greifen gegriffen

grab

to stop halten gehalten

to lift heben gehoben

to help helfen geholfen

to sound klingen geklungen

to come kommen gekommen

to run laufen gelaufen

to read lesen gelesen

to lend leihen geliehen

to lie liegen gelegen

to take nehmen genommen

to ride reiten geritten

to smell riechen gerochen

to close schließen geschlossen

to cut schneiden geschnitten

to write schreiben geschrieben

to swim schwimmen geschwommen

to see sehen gesehen

to be sein gewesen

to sing singen gesungen

to sink sinken gesunken

to sit sitzen gesessen

to speak sprechen gesprochen

to jump springen gesprungen

to stand stehen gestanden

to climb steigen gestiegen

to die sterben gestorben

to argue streiten gestritten

to wear tragen getragen

to meet treffen getroffen

to drink trinken getrunken

to wash waschen gewaschen

 to become werden geworden

to throw werfen geworfen

to pull ziehen gezogen

to force zwingen gezwungen

Mixed Verbs
The past participles of mixed verbs are a combination of weak and strong verbs. A ‘-t’ is added at the end of the
verb stem just like weak verbs. And like strong verbs, the verb stem changes.
For example, the past participle of wissen (to know) is gewusst.
List of some mixed verbs for you to memorize:-
English Verb German Partizip
Verb II

to burn brennen gebrannt

to bring bringen gebracht

to think denken gedacht

to know kennen gekannt

to name / nennen genannt

mention

to run rennen gerannt

to send senden gesandt

to turn wenden gewandt

to be allowed dürfen gedurft

to

to be able to können gekonnt

to like mögen gemocht

to have to müssen gemusst

There are two Partizip II forms of senden and wenden. Senden – gesandt / gesendet. Wenden – gewandt /
gewendet
Separable Verbs
As the name suggests, the prefixes of these verbs are separable. The past participle of separable verbs is formed
by adding ‘-ge’ after the prefix. The rules of weak, strong and mixed verbs apply to these verbs as well. Let’s
consider the verb zumachen (to close / shut).
zu + ge + mach + t = zugemacht (We add ‘-ge‘ between the prefix and verb stem.)

List of some separable verbs for you to memorize:-

English German Partizip II
Verb Verb

to offer anbieten angeboten

to arrive ankommen angekommen

to begin anfangen angefangen

to call anrufen angerufen

to adapt anpassen angepasst

to look aussehen ausgesehen

to go out ausgehen ausgegangen

to aussprechen ausgesprochen
pronounce

to try out ausprobieren ausprobiert

to get up aufstehen aufgestanden

to stop / end aufhören aufgehört

to wake up aufwachen aufgewacht

to open aufmachen aufgemacht

to burn abbrennen abgebrannt

down

to depart abfahren abgefahren

to pick up abholen abgeholt

to cancel absagen abgesagt

to contribute beitragen beigetragen

to shop einkaufen eingekauft

to invite einladen eingeladen

to tumble hinfallen hingefallen

 to bring mitbringen mitgebracht
along

to take mitnehmen mitgenommen

along

to ponder nachdenken nachgedacht

to prepare vorbereiten vorbereitet

to suggest vorschlagen vorgeschlagen

to introduce vorstellen vorgestellt

to cover / zudecken zugedeckt

tuck

to agree zustimmen zugestimmt

Inseparable Verbs
As the name suggests, the prefixes of these verbs are inseparable. The past participle of inseparable verbs is
formed without ‘-ge’. The rules of weak, strong and mixed verbs apply to these verbs too. Let’s consider the
verb besuchen (to visit).
besuch + t = besucht (We do not add ‘-ge‘ here.)

List of some inseparable verbs for you to memorize:-

English Verb German Partizip II

Verb

to receive bekommen bekommen

to answer / reply beantworten beantwortet

to start beginnen begonnen

to use benutzen benutzt

to pay bezahlen bezahlt

to recommend empfehlen empfohlen

to feel empfinden empfunden

to dismiss / fire entlassen entlassen

to relax entspannen entspannt

to decide entscheiden entschieden

 to invent erfinden erfunden

to recognize / erkennen erkannt

identify

to allow / permit erlauben erlaubt

to experience erleben erlebt

to expect erwarten erwartet

to belong to gehören gehört

to appeal to / like gefallen gefallen

to win gewinnen gewonnen

to disobey missachten missachtet

to suspect misstrauen misstraut

to connect verbinden verbunden

to forget vergessen vergessen

to compare vergleichen verglichen

to sell verkaufen verkauft

to lose verlieren verloren

to understand verstehen verstanden

to shatter / snap zerbrechen zerbrochen

to destroy zerstören zerstört

Here are a few German perfect tense example sentences:-

• Ich habe den deutschen Satz verstanden. (I understood the German sentence.)
• Gestern ist er nach London geflogen. (Yesterday he flew to London.)
• Wir haben am Morgen unsere Hausaufgaben gemacht. (We did our homework in the morning.)