The perfect: talking about the past

Why do “hast” and “gemacht” appear together?

Take a look

Ich habe Deutsch gelernt.I have learned German.
Sie ist nach Berlin gefahren.She has gone to Berlin.
Wir haben Pizza gegessen.We have eaten pizza.
Er ist eingeschlafen.He has fallen asleep.

The rule

In conversation, German often uses the perfect to talk about past events. It has two parts: a suitable form of haben or sein and a special verb form at the end. With machen, say ich habe gemacht. Many verbs of movement or change use sein, for example: Das Handy ist abgestürzt. Learn the final form with each verb because it is not always formed regularly.

Remember: Perfect = haben or sein + a special verb form at the end.

Goes with lesson 17, 26, 39 of the course.

What differs for you

English uses have with a past participle, so a two-part past form is familiar. German also uses a helper and a special verb form, but sometimes the helper is sein: “Mein Handy ist abgestürzt”. The participle normally stands at the end. Do not carry over English have automatically; learn the helper with the German verb.

The forms

Perfect: two parts

Grundform	Hilfsverb	Endform
machen	haben	gemacht
wohnen	haben	gewohnt
abstürzen	sein	abgestürzt
kommen	sein	gekommen

Common mistakes

*Ich habe gemacht die Hausaufgaben. → Ich habe die Hausaufgaben gemacht.
*Das Handy hat abgestürzt. → Das Handy ist abgestürzt.

Quick check

machen → ge___
Form the past participle.
Answer
gemacht — Regular: ge- + stem + -t
Er ___ nach Hause gegangen.
Choose the correct auxiliary verb.
1. hat
2. ist
3. wird
4. wurde
Answer
ist — Verb of motion → sein
Wir ___ einen Film ___ . (to see)
Insert the present perfect.
Answer
haben ... gesehen — sehen → gesehen (irregular), with haben
Sie hat das Buch ___ .
Choose the correct past participle.
1. gelest
2. gelesen
3. leset
4. gelesent
Answer
gelesen — lesen → gelesen (irregular)
Ich habe nach Berlin gefahren.
Correct the mistake.
Answer
Ich bin nach Berlin gefahren. — fahren = motion → sein
verstehen → ___
Form the past participle.
Answer
verstanden — Inseparable prefix: no ge-
aufstehen (he)
Form the present perfect.
Answer
ist aufgestanden — Separable + motion: ist + auf-ge-standen

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Terms

Present perfect: A common way to talk about the past: I have learned.
Auxiliary verb: A verb that helps make another verb form: I have learned.
Participle: A special verb form used for some past forms: learned in I have learned.
Tense: A verb form that can show when something happens: I learn, I learned.

BeforeThe dative: to whom?AfterKönnen, müssen and wollen

Tenses

Present tense: regular verbs A1Why is it “ich spiele” but “du spielst”?→War and hatte: the simple past A2What does war show in “Gestern war ein schöner Tag”?→Past perfect B1The past perfect describes an action that took place before another action in the past.→Konnte, musste, wollte A2How do you use können for a past ability?→Future perfect B2The future perfect describes an action that will be completed at a future point in time.→

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