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.
(Little Red Riding Hood 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