Ich habe gestern Pizza gegessen.
English: I ate pizza yesterday.
- Language
- German
- Level
- B1
- Unit
- Zeitformen und Modi
- Practice types
- 0
What this grammar point covers
The 'Perfekt' is a German past tense used to talk about actions or events that happened in the past. It is often used in spoken German.
When to use it
Use the Perfekt to talk about completed actions in the past, especially in conversations and informal writing.
Key forms
- haben/sein (present) + Partizip II
- Example: Ich habe gegessen.
- Example: Er ist gegangen.
Examples
Wir sind schnell nach Hause gegangen.
English: We went home quickly.
Sie hat einen Film gesehen.
English: She watched a movie.
Habt ihr das Buch gelesen?
English: Did you read the book?
Tips
- Most verbs use 'haben', but verbs of movement or change of state often use 'sein'.
- The Partizip II usually ends with '-t' or '-en'.
- The auxiliary verb (haben/sein) is always in the second position in the sentence.
Exceptions and edge cases
- Some verbs are irregular and have a special Partizip II form, like 'gehen' → 'gegangen'.
- A few verbs can use both 'haben' and 'sein', depending on their meaning.