A one-word past
Besides the Perfekt (ich habe gemacht), German has the Präteritum, a past in one word: ich machte. In conversation you use the Perfekt. The Präteritum is the past of written narration: stories, news reports, articles, minutes. You need it to read German and to write it.
The forms
Weak verbs in the Präteritum
| Person | machen (to do) | arbeiten (to work) |
|---|---|---|
| ich | machte | arbeitete |
| du | machtest | arbeitetest |
| er / sie / es | machte | arbeitete |
| wir | machten | arbeiteten |
| ihr | machtet | arbeitetet |
| sie / Sie | machten | arbeiteten |
ich and er/sie/es are identical; the other endings are the familiar -st, -en, -t, -en after -te.
Some stems need a linking -e- before -te so that the word stays pronounceable: stems ending in -t or -d (arbeiten, warten, reden) and stems ending in a consonant plus -m or -n (öffnen, rechnen, regnen, atmen). After a vowel or after -l or -r there is no extra e: wohnte, lernte, filmte.
Weak verbs in sentences
Ich wohnte damals in Leipzig.
I lived in Leipzig at the time.
Sie wartete über eine Stunde auf ihn.
She waited more than an hour for him.
Die Kinder spielten im Hof.
The children were playing in the courtyard.
German has one past form where English chooses between played and was playing.
Separable verbs split as in the present: the verb takes position two, the prefix goes to the end.
Er räumte die Wohnung auf.
He tidied up the flat.
Wir kauften am Samstag ein.
We went shopping on Saturday.
Mixed verbs: -te and a new vowel
A few very common verbs take -te and also change their stem vowel. They are called gemischte Verben (mixed verbs). English has the same group: think → thought, bring → brought. In German, five of the six change to a; only wissen goes to u.
denken → dachte
to think
bringen → brachte
to bring
kennen → kannte
to know (a person or place)
nennen → nannte
to name, to call
rennen → rannte
to run
wissen → wusste
to know (a fact)
Mixed verbs at work
Ich dachte, du kommst später.
I thought you were coming later.
Er brachte uns Kuchen mit.
He brought us cake.
Damals kannte ich niemanden in der Stadt.
Back then I didn't know anyone in the city.
Where you meet it
The Präteritum tells events one after another, with no auxiliary and no participle at the end of the clause. That is why stories, reports and long sentences prefer it.
Draußen schneite es, und die Straßen waren leer.
Outside it was snowing, and the streets were empty.
Narration
Der Bürgermeister erklärte, das Projekt sei gescheitert.
The mayor explained that the project had failed.
News report
Das Unternehmen eröffnete 1998 seine erste Filiale in Köln.
The company opened its first branch in Cologne in 1998.
Article
