Das Perfekt Patterns in the Present-Perfect Tense From Schaums Outline of German Grammar Second Edition by Elke F. Gschossmann-Hendershot (McGraw-Hil,

Das PerfektPatternsin the

Present-Perfect TenseFrom “Schaum’s Outline of German Grammar” Second Editionby Elke F. Gschossmann-Hendershot (McGraw-Hil, Inc., 1983)

Review of Weak VerbsO Regular Weak –

O Conjugate haben or sein and then place the past participle at the end of the sentence.

O Past Participle = “ge” + the third person singular form of the verb.

O NOTE: There are sometimes exceptions to these rules.

Some ExceptionsO Weak verbs that end in –

ieren do NOT get a “ge-” at the beginning of the past participle.

Infinitive Past Participle

studieren studiert

probieren probiert

telefonieren telefoniert

More ExceptionsO Verbs with the following

prefixes do NOT take an additional “ge-” prefix in the past participle either.

O Notice these are prefixes of inseparable verbs.

be- emp-ent-ge-

ver-ze

r-

Not always a “t” endingO If the stem of a regular weak verb

ends in t, d, and sometimes an n, then you add an –et to the past participle.Infinitive Meaning Past

Participle

arbeiten to work gearbeitet

reden to talk geredet

regnen to rain geregnet

öffnen to open geöffnet

haben OR seinO The helping verb is usually “haben.”O Intransitive Verbs (verbs that do not

take a direct object) use “sein.”O Such verbs usually denote a change

of location or condition.O CAUTION: Some verbs can be used

either transitively (which includes a direct object, thus using haben as the auxiliary verb), or intransitively (as described above).

Examples of Intransitive Verbs

Infinitive Meaning Past Participle

begegnen to meet ist begegnet

klettern to climb ist geklettert

reisen to travel ist gereist

rennen to run ist gerannt

wandern to wander/hike ist gewandert

In this presentation and in many textbook tables, an intransitive verb is denoted by the verb “ist” in front of the past participle.

IR-regular Weak Verbs

O Similar to regular weak verbs.

O However, there is a change in the past stem.

O NOTE: There are sometimes exceptions to these rules.

IR-regular Weak Verbs

Infinitive Meaning Past Participle

bringen to bring gebracht

denken to think gedacht

brennen to burn gebrannt

kennen to know: familiar with

gekannt

nennen to name genannt

senden to send gesandt

wissen to know: a fact gewusst

Strong VerbsO The past participle of strong

verbs is prefixed by ge- (except if the verb already begins

with an inseparable prefix) and ends in –en.

O Some are regular strong verbs (no stem change).

O Others are irregular strong verbs (stem changes).

Regular Strong VerbsInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

backen to bake gebacken

essen to eat gegessen

fahren to drive, go (ist) gefahren

fallen to fall (ist) gefallen

fangen to catch gefangen

fressen to eat: what animals do

gefressen

geben to give gegeben

Notice the extra “g” in the past participle of “essen.”

Regular Strong VerbsInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

graben to dig

halten to hold

kommen to come

lassen to let

laufen to run

lesen to read

messen to measure

schlafen to sleep

Guess the past participle of these regular strong verbs.

Regular Strong Verbs

Infinitive Meaning Past Participle

schlagen to hit

sehen to see

tragen to carry, wear

treten to step

vergessen to forget

wachsen to grow

waschen to wash

Guess the past participle of these regular strong verbs.

Irregular Strong VerbsO Many strong verbs change their stem

vowels in the past participle.O They may be grouped with similar

vowel changes in order to help you learn them faster.

Changes from ei to ieInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

bleiben to stay

leihen to loan

scheinen to shine, to seem

schreiben to write

schreien to scream

schweigen to be silent

steigen to climb

Changes from ei to iInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

beißen to bite

leiden to suffer

reiten to ride

schneiden to cut

Changes from ie to oInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

biegen to bend

fliegen to fly

fliehen to flee

fließen to flow

frieren to freeze

riechen to smell

schließen to shut, lock

verlieren to lose

wiegen to weigh

ziehen to pull

Changes from au to oInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

saufen to drink: what animals do

Changes from i to uInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

binden to bind

finden to find

singen to sing

sinken to sink

springen to jump

stinken to stink

trinken to drink

Changes from i to oInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

beginnen to begin

gewinnen to win

schwimmen to swim

Changes from i to eInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

bitten to ask

sitzen to sit

Changes from e to oInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

brechen to break

empfehlen to recommend

heben to lift

helfen to help

nehmen to take

sprechen to speak

stehlen to steal

sterben to die

treffen to meet

werfen to throw

Changes from e to aInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

gehen to go

stehen to stand

Changes from u to aInfinitive Meaning Past Participle

tun to do

Verbs with Separable Prefixes

Prefix Meaning

ab off, down

an at, on

auf up, open

aus out

ein into, in

fort away

heim home

her toward speaker

hin away from speaker

O If the prefix of a verb is separable, then the “ge” goes between the prefix and the stem in the past participle.

Prefix Meaning

mit with, along

nach after

nieder down

vor before

weg away

zu to, close

zurück back

zusammen

together