THE CONVERSATIONAL PAST WHEN TO USE AND HOW TO FORM IT REGULAR VERBS.

THE CONVERSATIONAL PAST

WHEN TO USE AND HOW TO FORM IT

REGULAR VERBS

The “Present Perfect” Tense is also called in German

“the Conversational Past” tense because it is so often used in speaking

about past events.

It consists of a helping verb and a past participle.

In FORM and sometimes in meaning it corresponds to the English

present perfect tense. Compare:

“I have bought a car.”

“Ich habe ein Auto gekauft.”

The Past Participle is formed by dropping the en and replacing it with a t.

Add ge- to the beginning.

machentge

spielentge

What is the Past Participle for each of the following verbs:

1. hören2. leben3. wohnen4. sagen5. schauen

gehörtgelebtgewohntgesagtgeschaut

If a verb ends with ieren, there is no ge- at the beginning

telefonierent

What is the Past Participle for each of the following verbs:

1. studieren2. fotografieren3. kontrollieren

studiertfotografiertkontrolliert

If a verb begins with an inseparable prefix do not add ge-.

Some inseparable prefixes are:

•be

•er

•ge

besuchen

en

en

erzähl

gehör

t

t

t

What is the Past Participle for each of the following verbs:

1.gebrauchen2.erklären3.benutzen benutzt

erklärtgebraucht

If a verb has a separable prefix the ge- goes between the prefix and the main stem of the verb.

einkaufengekauft

What is the Past Participle for each of the following verbs:

1. abholen2. zuhören3. aufsetzen

abgeholtzugehörtaufgesetzt

The Conversational Past is formed by using haben or sein plus the past participle.

Haben or sein is in the normal verb position.

The past participle is last.

Ich spiele Tennis.

Ich habe Tennis gespielt.

-------habe

gespielt

Am Freitag mache ich nichts.

Am Freitag habe ich nichts gemacht.

-------habe gemacht

Rewrite the following sentences in Conversational Past:

1. Wir lernen Deutsch.

3. Er kauft bei Aldi ein.

2. Wann fragst du Martin?

Er hat bei Aldi eingekauft.

Wann hast du Martin gefragt?

Wir haben Deutsch gelernt.

Sein is used when the verb is intransitive – one that cannot have a direct object.

Usually intrasitive verbs indicate a change of location or condition. However, some just are.

Some common intransitive verbs are:

•wandern

•joggen

•reisen

•segeln

Er ist gewandert.

Wir sind gejoggt.

Du bist gereist.

Ich bin gesegelt.

Change these short sentences to Conversational Past tense.

1.Ich segle.

2.Wir joggen.

3.Er wandert.

4.Du reist.

Perfekt = Conversational Past tense

Meanings: I have done somethingI was doing somethingI did something

THE MEANING OF THE GERMAN CONVERSATIONAL

PAST DEPENDS ON THE CONTEXT, THE ADVERB

OF TIME.

Zum Beispiel (for example):

Ich habe das Buch schon gekauft.

(=I have already bought the book.)

Ich habe das Buch gestern gekauft.

(=I bought the book yesterday.)

We do not say in English:

“I have bought the book yesterday.”

In summary . . . .

das Partizip = past participle (the word that has ge in German)

das Hilfsverb = auxiliary verb (haben or sein in German)

Make up 3 original sentences in German in Conversational Past tense. You can use the verbs listed below.

lernen telefonieren abholen

schauen einkaufen wandern

besuchen reisen gehören