Updated on September 18, 2024
What is the perfect tense in German?
The German Perfekt tense is used to describe events that happened in the recent past. The German perfect tense consists of an auxiliary verb and a past participle. Auxiliary verbs can be sein or haben. The choice depends on the main verb. The auxiliary verb must be conjugated in the present tense according to the subject. The Perfekt (present perfect) is one of three German past tenses (the others being the Präteritum, in English simple past, and the Plusquamperfekt, past perfect). If you want to dive into the German past tenses, we have some good news for you: The German perfect tense is the most commonly used and easiest of all and a good point to start. We’ll show you how.
The Perfekt equals the English past perfect. According to the rule, we use the German perfect tense in sentences that refer to a completed action in the past and focus on the result of that action in the present.
Example:
“Lisa hat gestern die Küche geputzt.”
Lisa cleaned the kitchen yesterday.
The cleaning took place in the past (yesterday) and the result (the kitchen is clean) can hopefully still be seen while the speaker tells us all about it.
Besides that, the German perfect tense can also be used to refer to an action that will be completed by a certain point in the future. Wait a minute? Isn’t that what the Futur II (future perfect) does? Indeed. But if, and only if, we specify the point in the future, we can go with the easier Perfekt here.
Example:
“Bis nächsten Donnerstag habe ich den Frühjahrsputz erledigt.”
Until next Thursday I (will) have finished the spring cleaning.
In all cases, in which the action has taken place in the past and has no connection to the present or future, the Präteritum (simple past) is the correct tense. In spoken language and informal written German though, we tend to use the Perfekt instead of the Präteritum with the exception of the modal verbs dürfen (may), sollen (shall), können (can), müssen (must), wollen (want), mögen (like).
Example:
“Sie hat gestern Tennis gespielt.”
She played tennis yesterday.
In formal language we would say “Sie spielte gestern Tennis”. (Präteritum)
To form the perfect tense, you need two things:
auxiliary verb haben or sein, conjugated in the present tense according to the subject + past participle of the verb.
Example:
“Ich habe Musik gehört.”
I listened to music.
“Ich bin vor zwei Stunden losgefahren.”
I left two hours ago.
Note 1:
As for word order, haben/sein takes the second place and the past participle at the end of the sentence.
“Ich habe mit meiner Freundin gesprochen.”
I spoke to my friend.
Note 2:
The passive voice of the German perfect tense is formed like this:
haben/sein + past participle + worden.
“Ich bin besiegt worden.”
I was defeated.
Therefore, all you need to know is
The trickiest point about the German perfect tense is how to decide between sein and haben.
You can simply memorize which verb asks for sein or haben while learning your vocabulary or apply the following rule of thumb:
If the action involves a movement as in change of place or change of state, use sein.
Also use sein with the verbs bleiben, geschehen, gelingen, misslingen, sein, werden.
In all other cases, use haben. This includes:
“Ich habe mich gewaschen.”
I washed myself.
“Ich habe einen Kuchen gebacken.”
I baked a cake.
“Ich habe geduscht.”
I took a shower.
According to this, it must be:
“Ich bin hierher gelaufen.”
I walked here.
“Ich bin aufgewacht.”
I woke up.
BUT
“Ich habe ein Buch gelesen.”
I read a book.
If you are not sure if the verb in question goes with haben or sein, consult a dictionary.
For the conjugation of haben and sein in the present tense, use the following table:
| sein (to be) | haben (to have) | |
| I | ich bin | ich habe |
| you (informal singular) | du bist | du hast |
| you (formal, singular) | Sie sind | Sie haben |
| he | er ist | er hat |
| she | sie ist | sie hat |
| it | es ist | es hat |
| we | wir sind | wir haben |
| you (informal, plural) | ihr seid | ihr habt |
| You (formal, plural) | Sie sind | Sie haben |
| they | sie sind | sie haben |
This is where it gets a bit confusing. Actually the regular verbs don’t pose much of a problem. The so-called weak verbs (schwache Verben) form the past participle like this:
ge + stem + te
Example:
lernen → ge – lern – t
It’s the dreaded German irregular verbs that make the past participle a difficult topic. These irregular verbs change their verb stem in simple past and/or the participle form. To make it worse, there are two kinds of irregular verbs: the strong verbs (starke Verben) and the mixed verbs (gemischte Verben). They form the past participle as follows:
Strong verbs: ge + stem + en
Example:
kommen (to come) → ge – komm – en (kommen, kam, gekommen)
singen (to sing) → ge – sung – en (singen, sang, gesungen)
Mixed verbs: ge + stem + t
Example:
kennen (know) → ge – kann – t (kennen, kannte, gekannt)
rennen (run) → ge – rann – t (rennen, rannte, gerannt)
Still with us? Hold on. There’s more. Very true to itself, the German language comes up with some exceptions on top of irregular verbs:
warten (to wait) → ge – wart – et (warten, wartete, gewartet)
probieren → probier – t (probieren, probierte, probiert)
verstehen → verstand – en (verstehen, verstand, verstanden)
einschlafen (to fall asleep) → ein – ge – schlafen (schlafen, schlief, geschlafen)
We know this is a lot to take in, especially for beginners. If unsure, you can always use a grammar checker.
According to the rules, the German perfect tense is used in sentences that refer to an action in the past with a focus on the result in the present or for actions completed in the future — as long as this future is specifically designated. There is an easy rule for how to form the perfect tense with sein/haben and the past participle, but especially the past participle comes with a lot of irregularities and exceptions. Thankfully we also make an exception to the rules about usage and use the Perfekt all the time (except for modal verbs), so there is plenty of opportunity to get a feeling for what sounds right.
