Perfekt - Vergangenheit
Perfekt — for English Speakers
Introduction
German Perfekt looks like English present perfect ('I have eaten'), but it's used differently — it's the main conversational past tense, equivalent to English simple past ('I ate'). It uses haben or sein as a helper plus a past participle at the end. The tricky part: some verbs use sein instead of haben, which English never does.
German vs English
In German
Ich habe gegessen. (I have eaten → but means: I ate)
In English
I have eaten. / I ate.
Key Difference
German Perfekt covers both English 'I ate' and 'I have eaten' — it's the default spoken past tense.
In German
Sie ist gekommen. (She is come → She came)
In English
She came. (English uses 'have', never 'be' as helper)
Key Difference
German uses sein for movement/change-of-state verbs; English always uses 'have'.
Common Mistakes for English Speakers
Ich habe gekommen.
Using haben because English always says 'I have come', never 'I am come'.
Ich habe nach Berlin gefahren.
Fahren (to go/drive) uses sein because it's a movement verb — English has no equivalent rule.
Practice Examples
Ich habe gestern viel gearbeitet.
I worked a lot yesterday.
Wir sind nach München gefahren.
We drove to Munich.
Hast du den Film gesehen?
Did you see the movie?
Memory Tip
Movement verbs take sein: if the subject MOVES somewhere or CHANGES state, use 'bin/bist/ist' — not 'habe'.
View Grammar Rule
Perfekt - Vergangenheit
Perfekt — A2
Practice Exercises
Perfekt - Vergangenheit Übungen
8 exercises
Other Languages
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