German Past Tense / Präteritum / A2

 German Simple Past Tense

What happens in the past stays in the past, but we still need to talk and write about it sometimes. In German they have one past tense for spoken language and one for the written language. This lesson intends to teach you about the written form; the simple past.

What is Simple Past Tense?

If you wanted to tell someone that you walked your dog, you could say to them "I walked my dog" or you could write it on a note and pass it to them, with the words "I walked my dog". The words are the same. But don't expect to do this Germany - for in their language the way you would write it is actually different than how you would say it!

The simple past is the tense we use in the German language when we're writing - as opposed to speaking - about events that happened in the past and have now been completed. So if you ever dreamed of writing a novel in German this is one form you will need to master.

In German it is known as das Präteritum. Say, for example, Alex wanted to tell his friend Max in a spoken conversation that he flew to Berlin last summer. It would look like this:

Spoken sentence:

    - Letzten Sommer bin ich nach Berlin geflogen. (Last summer I went to Berlin.)

However if he were writing to Max to give him the same information it would look like this:

    - Letzten Sommer flog ich nach Berlin. (Last summer I went to Berlin.)

It is written form you are learning today.

Regular Verbs

Luckily for you forming the simple past is not all that difficult and is much like forming verbs in the present tense. For regular verbs - or weak verbs as they are sometimes known - you have to use the stem of the verb and add a personal ending.

Those personal ending are -(e)te, -(e)test, -(e)ten, and e(e)tet.

It's much easier to understand with a verb example. Let's use a nice, easy one like the regular verb spielen (to play).

The stem of this verb is spiel.

Pronoun	Verb	English Translation
ich	spielte	I played
du	spieltest	you (informal) played
er/sie/es	spieltet	he/she/it played
wir	spielten	we played
ihr	spieltet	you all played
sie	spielten	they played
Sie	spielten	you (formal) played

    - Gestern spieltet er mit seiner kleinen Schwester. (He played with his little sister yesterday.)

    - Sie spielten Fußball alle zusammen. (They played soccer all together.)

Just to highlight the difference between the tenses here are the present tense and simple past tense forms next to one another:

Pronoun	Present Tense	Simple Past
ich	spiele	spielte
du	spielst	spieltest
er/sie/es	spielt	spieltet
wir	spielen	spielten
ihr	spielt	spieltet
sie	spielen	spielten
Sie	spielen	spielten

Irregular Verbs

For irregular verbs - or strong verbs - you add a personal ending, but their stem changes so you can't apply any pattern. Unfortunately there are no rules to which ones change or how, so you need to memorize their simple past forms.

For example, here are the simple past forms of the verb gehen (to go).

The stem of this verb is geh.

Pronoun	Verb	English Translation
ich	ging	I went
du	gingst	you went
er/sie/es	gingst	he/she/it went
wir	gingen	we went
ihr	gingt	you went
sie	gingen	they went
Sie	gingen	you (formal) went

    - Wir gingen in den Laden um Lebensmittel zu kaufen. (We went to the store to buy groceries.)

    - Er ging ins Kino vorgestern (He went to the movies the day before yesterday.)

Here are some examples of the most used verbs in German language with simple past tense forms.

As a study you can check the infinitive forms of other personal pronouns.

Infinitive form	Present Tense stem change if any (3rd person singular)	Simple past tense (3rd person singular)	Definition
backen	bäckt	backte / buk	to bake
beginnen	-	begann	to begin
bieten	-	bot	to offer
binden	-	band	to bind, tie
bitten	-	bat	to ask, request
bleiben	-	blieb	to stay
brechen	bricht	brach	to break
brennen   (mixed)	-	brannte	to burn
bringen	-	brachte	to bring
denken   (mixed)	-	dachte	to hink
dürfen     (modal)	darf	durfte	may, allowed
empfehlen	empfiehlt	empfahl	to recommend
essen	isst	aß	to eat
fahren	fährt	fuhr	to drive, go
fallen	fällt	fiel	to fall
finden	-	fand	to find
fliegen	-	flog	to fly
geben	gibt	gab	to give
gehen	-	ging	to walk, go
gelingen	-	gelang	to succeed
gewinnen	-	gewann	to win, gain
haben     (irreg.)	hat	hatte	to have
halten	hält	hielt	to hold
hängen	-	hing	to be hanging
helfen	hilft	half	to help
kennen     (mixed)	-	kannte	to know
klingen	-	klang	to sound
kommen	-	kam	to come
lassen	lässt	ließ	to let
laufen	läuft	lief	to run
lesen	liest	las	to read
liegen	-	lag	to lie, be lying
lügen	-	log	to (tell a) lie
mögen     (modal)	mag	mochte	to like
müssen     (modal)	muss	musste	must, to have to
nehmen	nimmt	nahm	to take
nennen   (mixed)	-	nannte	to name, call
rennen     (mixed)	-	rannte	to run
rufen	-	rief	to call, cry out
schlafen	schläft	schlief	to sleep
sehen	sieht	sah	to see
sein (irreg.)	ist	war	to be
senden     (mixed)	-	sandte	to send
sprechen	spricht	sprach	to speak
stehen	-	stand	to stand
tragen	trägt	trug	to wear, carry
treffen	trifft	traf	to meet
trinken	-	trank	to drink
tun	-	tat	to do
vergessen	vergisst	vergaß	to forget
waschen	wäscht	wusch	to wash
werden     (irreg.)	wird	wurde	to become
wissen   (mixed/irreg)	weiß	wusste	to know
ziehen	-	zog	to pull, move