The Perfekt is a common way to talk about completed past events, especially in conversation. It uses an auxiliary and a past participle.
The idea
Conjugate haben or sein for the subject and place the participle near the end of the main clause. Many verbs use haben. Many intransitive changes of place or state use sein, and so does bleiben. Regular participles often use ge- and -t, but irregular and prefixed verbs need individual attention. Learn hat gelesen and ist gegangen as useful pairs.
| Infinitiv | Perfekt |
|---|---|
| lernen | hat gelernt |
| lesen | hat gelesen |
| einkaufen | hat eingekauft |
| gehen | ist gegangen |
| bleiben | ist geblieben |
Participle I usually presents an ongoing active action: ein wartender Gast. German participles as adjectives: wartend and repariert
Examples
- Ich habe Kaffee gekocht.
- Wir haben Deutsch gelernt.
- Sie hat ein Buch gelesen.
- Er ist nach Hause gegangen.
- Wir sind in Bonn geblieben.
- Ich habe gestern eingekauft.
Read-aloud uses a synthetic German voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No German device voice is available. You can still read the text and use the linked listening resources.
Watch out
Movement alone is not a universal test for sein. Learn the auxiliary with each verb and its meaning; transitive uses can follow another pattern.
Try it yourself
Ich ___ einen Film gesehen.
Show answer or example answer
habe
Sehen takes haben in this use; with ich, the auxiliary is habe.
Sie ist nach Berlin ___. (fahren)
Show answer or example answer
gefahren
The past participle of fahren is gefahren; travel to Berlin uses sein.
Wir haben Deutsch ___. (lernen)
Show answer or example answer
gelernt
Lernen is regular: ge- plus the stem lern plus -t gives gelernt.
Practice round
Answer three questions, then rebuild three German sentences. We keep your score.
Ich ___ einen Film gesehen.
Sie ist nach Berlin ___. (fahren)
Wir haben Deutsch ___. (lernen)
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Keep your progress
Sign up for free to save your practice results in your account and carry on with the story in the game.
Sign up to saveI already have an accountUse it today
Tell someone three things you did yesterday. Include one regular verb, one irregular verb and one verb that uses sein.