Das Perfekt verstehen (To understand the Present Perfect Tense)

Main Rules

The German present perfect tense consists of two parts:

1. The auxiliary verb (Hilfsverb) in the present tense
2. The past participle (Partizip 2) of the main verb

In the sentence “Ich habe das Buch schon gelesen” (I have already read this book):

• “habe” is the auxiliary verb (Hilfsverb) in the present tense, conjugated for the subject “ich”
• “gelesen” is the past participle (Partizip 2) of the main verb “lesen” (to read)

1. Use

The present perfect tense in German is used similarly to English, describing actions that happened in the past but have a connection to the present. For example:

• Ich habe mein Handy verloren. (I have lost my phone.)

In addition, Germans often use the present perfect tense in everyday speech to talk about past events, where English might use the simple past tense. For instance:

• Gestern habe ich einen Film gesehen. (Yesterday, I watched a movie.)

However, some verbs are usually used in the simple past tense (Präteritum), especially in spoken German. These include modal verbs and the verb “sein” (to be). For example:

• Ich war gestern krank. (I was sick yesterday.)
• Er konnte nicht kommen. (He couldn’t come.)

2. Past Participle (Partizip 2) Rules

To form the present perfect tense, you need to know how to create the past participle (Partizip 2). Here are the main rules:

a) Weak verbs: ge- + stem + -t

• spielen → gespielt (played)

b) Weak verbs with stems ending in -t or -d: ge- + stem + e + -t

• arbeiten → gearbeitet (worked)

c) Strong verbs: ge- + stem + -en (often with a vowel change)

• singen → gesungen (sung)

d) Verbs ending in -ieren: stem + -t (no ge- prefix)

• studieren → studiert (studied)

e) Verbs with inseparable prefixes (be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, zer-): no ge- prefix, only ending -t or -en

• verstehen → verstanden (understood)
• besuchen → besucht (visited)

3. Auxiliary Verbs: haben and sein

Most verbs use “haben” as the auxiliary verb:

• Ich habe gegessen. (I have eaten.)

Use “sein” with:
a) Verbs of movement

• Ich bin nach Hause gegangen. (I have gone home.)
• Er ist endlich gekommen. (He has come finally.)
• Die Kinder sind viel gelaufen. (The children have run a lot.)

b) Verbs expressing a change of state

• Das Buch ist verschwunden. (The book has disappeared.)
• Ich bin eingeschlafen. (I have fallen asleep.)

c) The verbs sein, werden, bleiben, passieren, geschehen

• Es ist passiert. (It has happened.)
• Das Wetter ist kälter geworden. (The weather has become colder.)
• Er ist krank gewesen. (He has been ill.)

4. Word Order

In the present perfect tense, the auxiliary verb (haben or sein) goes in the second position, and the past participle goes at the end of the clause:

• Ich habe gestern einen interessanten Film gesehen. (I watched an interesting movie yesterday.)

Task 1 (Rule Revision)

Task 2 (Past Participle/Partizip 2)

Part A

Part B

Task 3 ("Haben" or "sein")

Listen to the song and come up with rules for using "haben" or "sein" as auxiliary verbs in the German present perfect tense.