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Präteritum is a simple past form: ‘Ich arbeitete’. Unlike Perfekt, it does not need a helping verb plus participle.
PAST TENSES · A2–B1
Präteritum: Tell a story in the simple past.
Learn war, hatte and the common simple-past forms that appear in stories, reports and everyday speech.
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THE SHORT VERSION
Präteritum, made clear.
Start with these three ideas. Then test them in real German sentences.
Remember war and hatte
‘Sein’ becomes ‘war’ and ‘haben’ becomes ‘hatte’ for ‘ich’ and ‘er/sie/es’. These forms are common even in speech.
Watch irregular verbs
Some verbs change their stem: ‘fahren → fuhr’. Modal verbs also often appear in Präteritum: ‘Wir mussten gehen’.
SEE THE DIFFERENCE
Ich habe gearbeitet. → Perfekt: common in conversation.
Ich arbeitete. → Präteritum: common in narrative writing.
The two past forms can overlap; context and style affect which sounds natural.A CLOSER LOOK
Know when the simple past appears
Präteritum is frequent in written stories and reports. Some forms, especially war, hatte and modal verbs, are also common in speech.
Regular and irregular forms
| Present | Simple past | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ich arbeite | ich arbeitete | Ich arbeitete gestern. |
| ich bin | ich war | Ich war müde. |
| wir haben | wir hatten | Wir hatten Zeit. |
| sie fährt | sie fuhr | Sie fuhr nach Berlin. |
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Compare with Perfekt
Ich arbeitete gestern and Ich habe gestern gearbeitet both refer to the past. Perfekt is often preferred for everyday conversation; Präteritum is particularly common in narratives and with sein, haben and modals.
Try this: A sentence can be grammatical in both present and past; an exercise must tell you which tense it wants.
For a fuller reference, see the Goethe-Institut German grammar overview ↗.
YOUR PRÄTERITUM CHALLENGE
Six sentences.
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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
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Präteritum, without the confusion.
What is Präteritum?
Präteritum is the German simple past tense. It is common in storytelling and written accounts.
Is Perfekt always better in speech?
No. Forms such as ‘war’, ‘hatte’ and ‘musste’ are also very common in conversation.
How does it differ from Perfekt?
Präteritum uses a simple verb form (‘ich arbeitete’). Perfekt combines haben or sein with a participle (‘ich habe gearbeitet’).