War and hatte: the simple past

What does war show in “Gestern war ein schöner Tag”?

Take a look

Gestern war ein schöner Tag.Yesterday was a beautiful day.
Das Publikum war begeistert.The audience was thrilled.
Früher war alles anders.Everything used to be different.
seinzyneto be
habenHAH-bento have

The rule

In stories, sein and haben often appear as war and hatte. These simple past forms need only one word: Gestern war ein schöner Tag. Learn the forms for each person too, such as ich war, du warst and ich hatte, du hattest. For most other verbs, spoken German usually uses the Perfekt you already know. Do not put every past event into this simple form.

Remember: Sein becomes war, haben becomes hatte; otherwise use Perfekt often.

Goes with lesson 2, 31, 39 of the course.

What differs for you

English has short past forms such as was and had, so German war and hatte have a familiar role. The difference is how far this simple form spreads in ordinary speech. German often uses war and hatte, but many other spoken past events use the Perfekt. Do not map every English simple-past verb onto a one-word German past form.

The forms

Past forms of sein and haben

Person	sein	haben
ich	war	hatte
du	warst	hattest
er/sie/es	war	hatte
wir	waren	hatten
ihr	wart	hattet
sie/Sie	waren	hatten

Common mistakes

*Gestern ist ein schöner Tag. → Gestern war ein schöner Tag.
*ich waren → ich war.

Quick check

Which form fits? Gestern ___ ein schöner Tag.
1. war
2. ist
3. hatte
Answer
war — “war” is the past form of sein in this sentence about “Tag”.
Which form fits? Das Publikum ___ begeistert.
1. waren
2. war
3. hatte
Answer
war — “war” is the past form of sein in this sentence about “Publikum”.
Which form fits? Früher ___ alles anders.
1. hatte
2. ist
3. war
Answer
war — “war” is the past form of sein in this sentence about “Früher”.
Which form fits? ich + haben → ___
1. hatte
2. hattest
3. war
Answer
hatte — With ich, haben becomes “hatte” in the simple past.
Which form fits? du + sein → ___
1. waren
2. warst
3. war
Answer
warst — With du, past-tense sein takes -st: “warst”.

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Terms

Simple past: A form for past events, often in stories: I learned.
Verb: A word for an action or event: go, sleep, be.
Tense: A verb form that can show when something happens: I learn, I learned.

BeforeIn, auf, unter: place or direction AfterGroß, größer, am größten

Tenses

Present tense: regular verbs A1Why is it “ich spiele” but “du spielst”?→The perfect: talking about the past A2Why do “hast” and “gemacht” appear together?→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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