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The simple past
Unlike in English, simple past (interchangeably called Präteritum or Imperfekt in German grammar references) is usually reserved for the written language (journalism, fictional writings etc.) and for narration. Exceptions are the verbs sein and haben, as well as the modal verbs, whose simple past forms are usually used both in written and oral language. We distinguish between three different kinds of verb formation in the simple past.
Weak verbs in the simple past:
Weak verbs are verbs whose stems experience no vowel changes in the different tenses. Examples are:
- machen (to do, to make).
- fragen (to ask)
- spielen (to play)
- tanzen (to dance)
- kaufen (to buy).
The simple past endings added to the stem of the weak verb are -te, -test, -te, -ten, -tet, -ten. Examples:
- Er spielte Klavier. (He played the piano.)
- Sie fragte ihre Schwester. (She asked her sister.)
- Sie suchten ihren Hund. (They were looking for their dog.)
- Rotkäppchen stellte dem Wolf viele Fragen. (Rotkäppchen asked the wolf many questions.)
- Rotkäppchen fragte und der Wolf antwortete. (Little Red riding Hood asked and the wolf answered.)
Example:
machen (to do, to make)
- ich machte, du machtest, er / sie / es machte,
- wir machten, ihr machtet, sie / Sie machten
Strong verbs in the simple past:
Strong verbs are verbs whose stems experience vowel changes in the different tenses. Examples are:
- fahren, fuhr (go, went)
- gehen, ging (walk, walked)
- sehen, sah (see,saw)
- schreiben, schrieb (write, wrote)
- finden, fand (find, found)
The simple past endings added to the changed stem of a strong verb are --, -st, --, -en, -t, -en. Examples:
- Einmal ging Rotkäppchen in den Wald. (Once Little Red Riding Hood walked into the woods.)
- Unterwegs sah sie einen Wolf. (On her way she saw a wolf.)
Example:
- fahren (to go, to drive): ich fuhr, du fuhrst, er/sie/es fuhr, wir fuhren, ihr fuhrt, sie/Sie fuhren
Irregular verbs in the simple past:
Irregular verbs combine features of both strong and weak verbs in that they have the same endings as weak verbs but the same stem changes as strong verbs. These kinds of verbs are few in number. Some examples are kennen, kannte (be familiar with, was familiar with), bringen, brachte (bring, brought), nennen, nannte (name, named). Example:
- Rotkäppchen brachte ihrer Großmutter Essen und Trinken mit, aber sie erkannte ihre Großmutter nicht. (Little Red Riding Hood brought her grandmother food and drink, but she didn't recognize her grandmother.)
Example:
rennen (to run): ich rannte, du ranntest, er / sie /es rannte, wir rannten, ihr ranntet, sie/Sie rannten
Sein, haben, and modal verbs in the simple past:
As mentioned above, the simple past forms of these verbs are used in both oral and written discourse. Example sentences:
- Letzten Sommer war ich in London. (I was in London last summer.)
- Warum hattet ihr gestern keine Zeit? (Why didn't you guys have time yesterday?)
- Wir mussten arbeiten. (We had to work.)
Sein (to be), haben, (to have), können(can):
- ich war, hatte, konnte
- du warst, hattest, konntest
- er / sie / es war, hatte, konnte
- wir waren, hatten, konnten
- ihr wart, hattet, konntet
- sie/Sie waren, hatten, konnten
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