Past tense (perfect) in German
MFL, German grammar. Usually met in years 7 to 11.
Choose the right form of common German verbs in the perfect tense, for what happened.
What you practise
- Matching the verb to the person (I, you, we and so on)
- Regular and irregular verbs
- Telling this tense apart from the others
Starts with the most common verbs and adds irregular ones level by level. Practice moves up a level when a round goes well and down when it does not.
Sample questions
Each sample comes with the method and the reason every wrong option is wrong. Real practice rounds are ten questions at your level.
Sample question, level 2 of 5
du … (gehen, to go (on foot)): which is the perfect tense?
- bin gegangen
- sind gegangen
- ist gegangen
- bist gegangen
- seid gegangen
Show the answer and method
Answer: D, bist gegangen
The method: With ‘du’ (you (one person)), the perfect tense of ‘gehen’ is ‘bist gegangen’. Gehen takes sein in the perfect tense.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A, bin gegangen: ‘bin gegangen’ goes with ‘ich’, not ‘du’.
- B, sind gegangen: ‘sind gegangen’ goes with ‘wir’, not ‘du’.
- C, ist gegangen: ‘ist gegangen’ goes with ‘er / sie / es’, not ‘du’.
- E, seid gegangen: ‘seid gegangen’ goes with ‘ihr’, not ‘du’.
Sample question, level 4 of 5
wir … (können, to be able to): which is the perfect tense?
- haben gekonnt
- habt gekonnt
- hast gekonnt
- können
- habe gekonnt
Show the answer and method
Answer: A, haben gekonnt
The method: With ‘wir’ (we), the perfect tense of ‘können’ is ‘haben gekonnt’.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B, habt gekonnt: ‘habt gekonnt’ goes with ‘ihr’, not ‘wir’.
- C, hast gekonnt: ‘hast gekonnt’ goes with ‘du’, not ‘wir’.
- D, können: ‘können’ is the present tense, not the perfect tense.
- E, habe gekonnt: ‘habe gekonnt’ goes with ‘ich’, not ‘wir’.
See where this fits: every language topic and Key Stage 3.
Related topics: Present tense, Future tense, Articles and cases, Word order and negatives.
