PAST TENSES · A1–B1

Perfekt Zeitform: Tell someone what happened.

Build natural past-tense sentences with haben or sein plus a past participle. Practise the forms you use in everyday conversation.

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THE SHORT VERSION

Perfekt Zeitform, made clear.

Start with these three ideas. Then test them in real German sentences.

Use two parts

Perfekt combines a present-tense form of ‘haben’ or ‘sein’ with a past participle: ‘Ich habe gekocht.’ In a main clause, the participle usually goes at the end.

Choose the helper

Many verbs use ‘haben’. Verbs describing a change of location or state often use ‘sein’: ‘Sie ist gefahren’, ‘Er ist aufgestanden’. Some verbs need to be learned individually.

Learn the participle

Regular verbs often form ge- + stem + -t: ‘machen → gemacht’. Irregular verbs may end in -en: ‘essen → gegessen’. ‘Arbeiten’ becomes ‘gearbeitet’.

SEE THE DIFFERENCE

Ich habe gekocht. → ‘Kochen’ takes haben.

Ich bin gefahren. → ‘Fahren’ with a destination takes sein.

Do not choose the helper from English. Learn it with each German verb.

A CLOSER LOOK

Build the spoken past

Perfekt is common in conversation. The helping verb is in present tense; the past participle usually closes the main clause.

Helper + participle

Common Perfekt forms
Infinitive	Helper	Participle	Sentence
machen	haben	gemacht	Ich habe das gemacht.
essen	haben	gegessen	Wir haben gegessen.
gehen	sein	gegangen	Sie ist gegangen.
bleiben	sein	geblieben	Er ist geblieben.

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Watch the prefix

With a separable verb, ge appears between prefix and stem: aufstehen → aufgestanden. Many inseparable-prefix verbs do not add ge: besuchen → besucht. Learn irregular participles with the verb.

Try this: “Ich bin nach Berlin gefahren” uses sein for travel to a destination. Not every use of fahren behaves alike; learn complete example sentences.

For a fuller reference, see the Goethe-Institut German grammar overview ↗.

YOUR PERFEKT ZEITFORM CHALLENGE

Six sentences.
One insight at a time.

Choose the missing word. Learn from each answer, then try the next sentence.

LEVEL 10 / 6 correct first try

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YOUR NEXT SENTENCE

Now try your own.

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QUICK ANSWERS

Perfekt Zeitform, without the confusion.

What is the Perfekt tense?

Perfekt is a compound German past tense, often used in everyday conversation. It combines present-tense haben or sein with a past participle.

When do I use haben or sein?

Most transitive verbs use haben. Many verbs of change of location or state use sein, but there are exceptions; check the individual verb.

Where does the participle go?

In a simple main clause, it usually comes at the end: ‘Wir haben Pizza gegessen.’