When to use the past perfect in german, the past perfect is also called plusquamperfekt or vorvergangenheit prepast. In german, the past perfect is created similar to the present perfect tense, except war, warst, waren and wart conjugation of sein or hatte, hattest, hatten and hattet conjugation of haben is used instead of sein or haben. German language stack exchange is a bilingual question and answer site for speakers of all levels who want to share and increase their knowledge of the german language. The plusquamperfekt is always used when you speak about a event in the past that had happened before another event in the past. An example of the past perfect in english would be. In german, as in english, the present perfect differs from the simple past, in that it describes past events that have present implications. The past perfect or pluperfect plusquamperfekt is used together with the simple past to express something that happened before a past time. Links to this dictionary or to single translations are very welcome.
Usually you will need to conjugate the helping verb haben to have when using the perfect tense and also add the prefix geto the conjugated verb although the majority of present perfect german verbs use haben, some verbs use sein to be. To start with, here are some of the basic tenses and moods in english. All of these pages are my own compilations, but i cant claim credit for every single sentence or idea many of these worksheets were compiled from older textbooks and various internet sites, and the clip. Look up the german to english translation of plusquamperfekt in the pons online dictionary. Learn german lesson 32 you will learn what is past perfect tense in german. He was tired because he had not slept the night before. German 204 below youll find a list of the grammar worksheets ive compiled over the last few years.
In my lessons you will speak german from the very first time we meet. So if you plan on having or wanting to read books printed in german or maybe a german daily newspaper, you had better get. There are many different types of tasks available for the verb sein. Dont confuse the perfekt in german with the present perfect in english. I hope youre all fit and well rested because this week it is more than time to give our german language muscles a little work out. Learn german plusquamperfekt deutsch fur euch 72 youtube. Plusquamperfekt sie hat mit dem vermieter telefoniert.
Worksheets verb sein exercises for conjugation of german. Looking for prateritum plusquamperfekt worksheets online. You use it when using konjunktiv i is ambiguous, meaning the verb would be the same as another. You use plusquamperfekt only for actions, that happened before another event in the past. Dec 19, 2011 the german plusquamperfekt tense is equivalent to the english past perfect tenses both the simple and the progressive form.
The passive voice isnt really used very much in the german language. German speakers are not always careful in making this distinction, however. Worksheets are used generally for the conjugation of the verb sein in teaching. These versatile exercises will help students of any level master their german grammar skills. Over 100,000 english translations of german words and phrases. Bevore i met cathy i hadnt never dealt intensively with the german grammar. Hi everyone, at german school weve been changing sentences and verbs to prateritum or plusquamperfekt but summer vacation starts next week and i dont want to forget how to do these im struggling with them anyway. Just like in english, the past perfect is used to indicate that an action was already completed in the past. It is the german equivalent of the english past perfect tense.
A2 plusquamperfekt past perfect tense german for beginners. Plusquamperfekt pluperfect in german teaching resources. The grammtikstubemodule introduces a grammar concept. The german perfect tense implies that a present tense verb is describing a past event, such as i have played with my little brother. Available at present are pages for german 101 fall 2003, german 102 spring 2004, german 203 fall 1999, german 204 fall 2001 and german 226 spring 2000. More information contains translations by tu chemnitz and mr honeys business dictionary german english. English translation of plusquamperfekt collins german. Plusquamperfekt verlaufsform past perfect continuous.
Plusquamperfekt past perfect i lied a little bit in the past tense overview above. These are overview sheets with complete conjugation, puzzles and games that require joint learning. Another expresson for the plusquamperfekt is vorvergangenheit pre past which describes its purpose best. Englishgerman online dictionary developed to help you share your knowledge with others. Usually, it explains how a certain event in the past came to be. It is used to emphasize that a past event had happened before another past event. Verbs that express motion or a change of location form the past perfect with sein. These are overview sheets with complete conjugation, puzzles and games that require. Verb exercises ubungen zum verb teaching resources. He had played well until he was hurt er hatte gut gespielt, bis er verletzt wurde. Indeed, they sometimes even mix the two tenses indiscriminately. In german, the past perfect is created similar to the present perfect tense, except war, warst, waren and wart conjugation of sein or hatte, hattest. Plusquamperfekt translation from german into english pons.
Another expresson for the plusquamperfekt is vorvergangenheit pre past which describes its. Fill in the missing verbs in the past perfect tense. The past perfect tense serves the same general purpose in german as it does in english. But fear not, we prepared a list of the most used german grammar terms to make the process of learning easier for you. In german, the past perfect is created similar to the present perfect tense, except war, warst, waren and wart conjugation of sein or hatte, hattest, hatten and. One of the common problems for beginners, when they start learning german past perfect tense, is when to use haben or sein as an auxiliary. It is constructed in the same way as the present perfect tense perfekt, except the fact, that the auxiliary verbs of haben oder sein is in the simple past form. For a discussion of how to form the past participle, consult the explanation of the present perfect. The present perfect is a verb tense that expresses an event in the past.
It is formed using the conjugated form of the auxiliary verb haben or sein. Theory says that, for a past action without any relation to the present, the prateritum should. Thus, you use this tense in order to refer to an action or actions that had happened before another action in the past. The german plusquamperfekt tense german language blog. As in english, it is not usually necessary to use this tense. The past perfect or pluperfect plusquamperfekt expresses actions that took place before a certain point in the past. In german, as in english, the past perfect describes a time previous to another in the past. Plusquamperfekt past perfectpluperfect tense in german. We use this tense in storytelling together with the simple past, to look back at something that happened before a past event. In my example the reference point in the past is the moment when gabi looked into my eyes. Prateritum german free german exercises and lessons. Past perfect tense plusquamperfekt in german colanguage.
Then test yourself in the free interactive exercises. The perfekt is the most used verb tense for referring to past actions in german. If a verb takes haben in the perfect tense, then it will take haben in the pluperfect too. While it is already difficult to understand the cognitive processes underlying the use of past perfect, future ii, or even their interrelatedness in narrative speech, the functions of noneuropean languages that work without the pattern of past, present and future seem quite mysterious, at least from a european perspective. It is constructed just like the present perfect tense, except that the auxiliary haben or sein is in its simple past form. Learn about the conjugation and usage of the spanish past perfect tense with lingolias online grammar rules. Feel free to visit these pages, but be aware that theyre no longer actively maintained. Learn the rules and exceptions for this tense on lingolia then test your grammar skills online in the free exercises. Plusquamperfekt past perfectpluperfect tense in german grammar.
Many online exercises for the following levels are available. The plusquamperfekt as well as the prateritum are both tenses of the past and are often used together. The german plusquamperfekt tense is equivalent to the english past perfect tenses both the simple and the progressive form. A verbs tense has to do with the time of the action, and its mood has to do with the reality of the action. English german online dictionary developed to help you share your knowledge with others. Translated to english, spanish, french, portuguese, russian, turkish, arabic, persian, romanian, italian and greek. In german, as in english, the past perfect tense pluscuamperfekt is used, to describe a happening in the past, that took place previous to another happening in the past. Like the perfect tense, the pluperfect tense in german has two parts to it. If you see it, it will most likely be used more in something that appears in writing than in a sentence someone speaks to you.
The document contains 28 comprehensive worksheets 60 pages with german grammar exercises covering the following major gcse topics. The event that happened first is described using the past perfect, whereas the later event is described using either the simple past or the present perfect. Download german exercises pdf and audio a1 a2 content. German perfekt, imperfekt and plusquamperfekt english.
Not all aforementioned tenses always relate to the corresponding time as some can also refer to more than one. All of these pages are my own compilations, but i cant claim credit for every single sentence or idea many of these worksheets were compiled from older textbooks and various internet sites, and the clip art comes from older textbooks and. More information contains translations by tu chemnitz and mr honeys business dictionary germanenglish. Even if youve forgotten their names, the forms should look familiar. Includes free vocabulary trainer, verb tables and pronunciation function. The konjunktiv ii is a verb form that you will mostly find in indirect speech. The past perfect in german plusquamperfekt youtube. The past perfect in german plusquamperfekt the construction of the past perfect in the german language explained in english just like in english, the past perfect is used to indicate that an action was already completed in the past. A1 beginner, a2 preintermediate, b1 intermediate, b2 advanced. Usually it is used together with a phrase in prateritum or in perfekt. English translation of plusquamperfekt the official collins germanenglish dictionary online. German perfekt, imperfekt and plusquamperfekt heya litespeed tell me about it not being the easiest but im lucky in that i speak high german with the family i work with at least with the kids but they arent the best for perfecting it. While it is already difficult to understand the cognitive processes underlying the use of past perfect, future ii, or even their interrelatedness in narrative speech, the functions of noneuropean languages that work without the pattern of past, present and future seem quite mysterious, at least from a. To be specific, in almost no case the plusquamperfekt appears as the only tense in the context of a statement but only in conjunction with the prateritum or the perfekt.
The pluperfect or past perfect tense plusquamperfekt is used to express a past event. Below youll find a list of the grammar worksheets ive compiled over the last few years. Marchen practice the past perfect plusquamperfekt by combining sentences about grimm fairy tales using nachdem. This tense indicates situations or events that have been established through the past or present perfect tense. You can save the pdf file to your computer or print it and refer to eat every time you see an unknown grammar term. The plusquamperfekt is always used when you speak about a event in the. The pluperfect tense learning german grammar collins. When you are just starting to learn the german language, the grammar might seem a bit overwhelming. Plusquamperfekt learn how to form it and when to use it in the german language. The perfekt is used in spoken and nonformal written language with nonmodal verbs. The materials can be used as open educational resources oer for exercises, for games and as tasks cc bysa 4.