Hallo! In this article, we will be looking at the German Preterite tense, what it is and how to use it. Enjoy!
What is the German preterite tense?
The German preterite (or Präteritum) is the first past tense in German. There are three different past tenses in general (Präteritum, Perfekt and Plusquamperfekt) and each of them is used for specific reasons.
When should we use the German preterite tense?
It is important to know, when to use the German Präteritum and when the Perfekt, since these two forms resemble the most in their use.
For the German preterite, we can say that in general, it is almost used exclusively in written German.
There are a few verbs, which are frequently used in daily communication (we will mark them down below) but mainly, this tense has withdrawn into our written language.
We find the preterite in telling, reports, facts, states and to describe actions that were completed in the past. This can include one single, completed event or also a series of completed actions.
The German Perfekt, on the other hand, has taken a lot of work off the Präteritum. It is much easier to build and has fewer irregularities.How do we form the preterite tense?
As you already know from, German tenses always require personal pronouns.
These are the German personal pronouns, which you have to learn by heart:
| 1st person singular ich | 1st person plural wir |
| 2nd person singular du | 2nd person plural ihr |
| 3rd person singular er / sie / es | 3rd person plural sie / Sie* |
*The polite form in German is the 3rd person plural Sie.
In order to form our verbs in the preterite tense, we need the infinitive. The infinitive is the basic form of our verb, so the verb that has not been conjugated yet.
The regular German verbs end on “-en”. We take away this suffix (or ending) which leaves us with the verb’s stem. To this stem we now add this suffixes to mark the preterite tense:| 1st person singular - te | 1st person plural - ten |
| 2nd person singular - test | 2nd person plural - tet |
| 3rd person singular - te | 3rd person plural - ten |
Take for example the important verb machen (to do). To the stem mach we now add our endings of the preterite tense.
| 1st person singular ich mach - te | 1st person plural wir mach - ten |
| 2nd person singular du mach - test | 2nd person plural ihr mach - tet |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es mach - te | 3rd person plural sie/Sie mach - ten |
With the mandatory personal pronouns, this gives us:
- ich machte
- du machstest
- er / sie / es machte
- wir machten
- ihr machtet
- sie / Sie machten.
| 1st person singular ich wohn - te | 1st person plural wir wohn - ten |
| 2nd person singular du wohn - test | 2nd person plural ihr wohn - tet |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es wohn - te | 3rd person plural sie/Sie wohn - ten |
A FUN AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO LEARN GERMAN
Irregularities in the preterite tense
Reading a written medium in German, you will soon notice that most of the preterite forms are irregular.
Unfortunately, there is no way around those irregularities and you simply have to learn them by heart.
For the beginning, we can focus on the most important ones, which are necessary to know.
Additionally, the verbs marked with an “!” are often used as preterite form in spoken, daily German, too.
Sein (to be) !| 1st person singular ich war | 1st person plural wir waren |
| 2nd person singular du warst | 2nd person plural ihr wart |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es war | 3rd person plural sie/Sie waren |
Haben (to have) !
| 1st person singular ich hatte | 1st person plural wir hatten |
| 2nd person singular du hattest | 2nd person plural ihr hattet |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es hatte | 3rd person plural sie/Sie hatten |
Gehen (to go)
| 1st person singular ich ging | 1st person plural wir gingen |
| 2nd person singular du gingst | 2nd person plural ihr gingt |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es ging | 3rd person plural sie/Sie gingen |
Mögen (to like) !
| 1st person singular ich mochte | 1st person plural wir mochten |
| 2nd person singular du mochtest | 2nd person plural ihr mochtet |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es mochte | 3rd person plural sie/Sie mochten |
Here are some sentences, which contain irregular verbs in the preterite tense:
| Ich war am Samstag da. | I was there on Saturday. |
| Wo wart ihr gestern?* | Where have you been yesterday? |
| Seine Familie hatte nie einen Hund. | His family never had a dog. |
| Damals hatten wir noch ein großes Haus. | Back then, we still had a big house. |
| Sie gingen zusammen nach Hause. | They went home together. |
| Mochtest du die Vorstellung?* | Did you like the performance? |
| Ihr mochtet euch schon immer. | You have always liked each other. |
*You might notice that the personal pronoun stands behind the conjugated verb when you are asking a question. This type of question we call Inversion.
a) Modal verbs
Let us continue with some more irregular verbs. German has modal verbs, which are used frequently in our daily communication.
Also the preterite for appears daily in spoken German and should be thus learned by heart.
You might notice that the Umlaut in können, müssen and dürfen changes:
Können, ö -> o
Müssen & dürfen, ü -> u
Können (can; to know how to do sth.) !| 1st person singular ich konnte | 1st person plural wir konnten |
| 2nd person singular du konntest | 2nd person plural ihr konntet |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es konnte | 3rd person plural sie/Sie konnten |
Müssen (to must; to have to) !
| 1st person singular ich musste | 1st person plural wir mussten |
| 2nd person singular du musstest | 2nd person plural ihr musstet |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es musste | 3rd person plural sie/Sie mussten |
Dürfen (to be allowed; to can) !
| 1st person singular ich durfte | 1st person singular ich durfte |
| 2nd person singular du durftest | 2nd person plural ihr durftet |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es durfte | 3rd person plural sie/Sie durften |
The last two modal verbs, wollen and sollen, are in fact regular!
Nevertheless, we added them to the other modal verbs so that it is easier for you two learn them together.
Wollen (to want) !| 1st person singular ich wollte | 1st person plural wir wollten |
| 2nd person singular du wolltest | 2nd person plural ihr wolltet |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es wollte | 3rd person plural sie/Sie wollten |
Sollen (to be supposed to; shall) !
| 1st person singular ich sollte | 1st person plural wir sollten |
| 2nd person singular du solltest | 2nd person plural ihr solltet |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es sollte | 3rd person plural sie/Sie sollten |
Here are some sentences which contain modal verbs in the preterite tense:
| Ich musste ihm helfen. | I had to help him. |
| Du konntest die Aufgabe lösen. | You could solve the task. |
| Wir konnten nicht kommen. | We couldn’t come. |
| Konnte sie schon immer so gut tanzen? | Could she always dance that well? |
| Ihr musstet lange dort bleiben. | You had to stay there a long time. |
| Ihr musste früher gehen. | I had to go earlier. |
| Er durfte nicht mit uns kommen. | He wasn’t allowed to come with us. |
| Durften sie das essen? | Were they allowed to eat that? |
| Sie wollte das nicht. | She didn’t want it. |
| Ich wollte immer Kinder. | I always wanted kids. |
| Ihr solltet anrufen, wenn ihr angekommen seid. | You were supposed to call when you arrived. |
b) Strong verbs
Strong verbs change their main vocal, which makes them irregular.
However, they are part of our daily communication and you will especially notice them in written German.
Here you find the most commonly used strong verbs.
Essen (to eat)
Notice that this verb also changes its double s to a German ß!| 1st person singular ich aß | 1st person plural wir aßen |
| 2nd person singular du aßest | 2nd person plural ihr aßet |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es aß | 3rd person plural sie/Sie aßen |
Sehen (to see)
| 1st person singular ich sah | 1st person plural wir sahen |
| 2nd person singular du sahst | 2nd person plural ihr saht |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es sah | 3rd person plural sie/Sie sahen |
Sprechen (to speak)
| 1st person singular ich sprach | 1st person plural wir sprachen |
| 2nd person singular du sprachst | 2nd person plural ihr spracht |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es sprach | 3rd person plural sie/Sie sprachen |
Helfen (to help)
| 1st person singular ich half | 1st person plural wir halfen |
| 2ndperson singular du halfst | 2nd person plural ihr halft |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es half | 3rd person plural sie/Sie halfen |
Geben (to give)
| 1st person singular ich gab | 1st person plural wir gaben |
| 2nd person singular du gabst | 2nd person plural ihr gabt |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es gab | 3rd person plural sie/Sie gaben |
Schreiben (to write)
| 1st person singular ich schrieb | 1st person plural wir schrieben |
| 2nd person singular du schriebst | 2nd person plural ihr schriebt |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es schrieb | 3rd person plural sie/Sie schrieben |
Fahren (to drive)
| 1st person singular ich fuhr | 1st person plural wir fuhren |
| 2nd person singular du fuhrst | 2nd person plural ihr fuhrt |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es fuhr | 3rd person plural sie/Sie fuhren |
Laufen (to walk; to run) !
| 1st person singular ich lief | 1st person plural wir liefen |
| 2nd person singular du liefst | 2nd person plural ihr lieft |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es lief | 3rd person plural sie/Sie liefen |
Tragen (to carry, to wear)
| 1st person singular ich trug | 1st person plural wir trugen |
| 2nd person singular du trugst | 2nd person plural ihr trugt |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es trug | 3rd person plural sie/Sie trugen |
Beginnen (to begin, to start)
| 1st person singular ich begann | 1st person plural wir begannen |
| 2nd person singular du begannst | 2nd person plural ihr begannt |
| 3rd person singular er/sie/es begann | 3rd person plural sie/Sie begannen |
Here are some sentences, which contain strong verbs in the preterite tense.
Only the sentence marked with “ ! “ are likely to be used in spoken German, too.
| Am Abend aß er nur Brot. | In the evening, he only ate bread. |
| Wir aßen gemeinsam. | We ate together. |
| Er sah sie an einem Tisch sitzen. | He saw her sitting at a table. |
| Ihr saht müde aus. | You looked tired. |
| Ich sprach nicht aus, was ich dachte. | I did not say what I thought. |
| Sie sprachen leise. | They talked quietly. |
| Sie half mir. | She helped me. |
| Wir halfen den Jungen. | We helped the boys. |
| Gab es etwas zu essen? ! | Was there something to eat? |
| Wir gaben alles, was wir konnten. | We gave everything we could. |
| Sie schrieben sich Briefe. | They wrote letters. |
| Ich schrieb dir eine Nachricht. | I wrote you a message. |
| Ihr fuhrt mit dem Auto. | You took the car. |
| Er fuhr am Abend zu ihr. | He drove to her in the evening. |
| Wie lief deine Klausur? ! | How was your exam? |
| Es lief gut. ! | It went well. |
| Wir liefen uns über den Weg. ! | We ran into each other. |
| Sie trug ein schönes Kleid. | She wore a nice dress. |
| Ich trug seine Tasche. | I carried his bag. |
| Wir trugen die gleiche Jacke. | We wore the same jackets. |
| Ich begann mir Sorgen zu machen. ! | I began to worry. |
Vielen Dank!
We hope you have learnt something from this article.
Surely, you can always come back here to check on a conjugation.
We know that the German preterite seems complicated at first but keep in mind that your successful learning comes from steady repetition: Constant dripping wears away the stone.
Danke schön!!!!