German grammar · Elementary (A2)
The simple past (Präteritum): war, hatte, musste
The one-word past tense: war and hatte, the modal verbs in the past, and which verbs Germans use it for in conversation.
One word for the past
German has two main past tenses. The Perfekt () is the usual one in conversation. The Präteritum or simple past is a single word: (I was), (I had).
In speech, people use the Präteritum mainly for , and the modal verbs, because it's shorter than the Perfekt: rather than . In books, newspapers and stories, the Präteritum is used for all verbs.
- Ich war gestern im Büro.I was in the office yesterday.
- Wir hatten keine Zeit.We didn't have time.
- Ich war in Dublin und habe da gearbeitet.I was in Dublin and worked there.
sein and haben
In the Präteritum, and / / have the same form, with no ending. The other endings are the same for all verbs: -st, -en, -t, -en.
| Person | ||
|---|---|---|
| / / | ||
| / |
The modal verbs
Modal verbs drop the umlaut of the infinitive and add -te: → , → , → . and have no umlaut: , . is irregular: . The second verb goes to the end, as in the present.
Don't mix up (could, was able to) with (could, would be able to), the polite form in …?
| Infinitive | / / / | / / |
|---|---|---|
- Ich musste lange warten.I had to wait a long time.
- Gestern konnte sie nicht kommen.She couldn't come yesterday.
- Als Kind wollte er Pilot werden.As a child he wanted to be a pilot.
Other verbs: mostly in writing
You'll read the Präteritum of other verbs in stories and news. Regular verbs add -te to the stem: → , → . Irregular verbs change their vowel and have no -te: → , → , → . One is also common in speech: (there was, there were), from .
- Früher gab es hier ein Kino.There used to be a cinema here.
- Sie wohnte in Berlin und arbeitete bei einer Bank.She lived in Berlin and worked at a bank.
Common irregular verbs in stories
When you tell or read a longer story, you'll need the Präteritum of many more verbs. Irregular verbs change their vowel and add no -te; they take the endings -st, -en, -t, -en like : , , . A few verbs change their vowel and add -te: → , → , → .
Learn the Präteritum together with the participle, as in the table.
| Infinitive | Präteritum ( / / ) | Perfekt |
|---|---|---|
- Eines Tages fuhr ich mit dem Zug nach Hause, und sie saß neben mir.One day I was going home on the train, and she was sitting next to me.
- Ich dachte, die letzte Fähre fährt um sieben.I thought the last ferry left at seven.