Das+Perfekt

** DAS PERFEKT **
 Today we are going to learn about Das Perfekt There are a couple thing you need to know in order to put the this concept into use.

The Conversation Past have 2 parts: "sein" or "haben" + partizip perfekt (or past participle). In past participle, haben or sein is conjugated to match the subject, while the participle remains the same. Haben is used in most cases, but when using "motion verbs" (verbs in which you are moving from one place to another), sein is used.

Now to understand this next concept, you first must understand “strong” (or “regular”) and “weak” (or “unregular”) verbs in German. We have the same concept in English. Example:

Weak verbs- play --> played: spielen --> gespielt learn --> learned: lernen --> gelernt

Strong verbs- speak --> spoken: sprechen --> gesprochen give --> given: geben --> gegeben

When you have a “weak” (or “regular) verb, you add a ge- to the front of the word and a –t to the end of the root of the verb. (see above)

However, as is with all rules, there are a few exceptions.

If the word ends with –ieren or has an inseparable prefix (such as ver-, be-, and miss-), then it does not get a ge- at the front and only takes the –t at the end.

Example: studieren --> studiert besuchen --> besucht

Now, if the verb has a separable prefix, it stays the same, except you have to add the ge- to the root of the word and leave the prefix in front of the ge-.

Example: zumachen --> zugemacht aufräumen --> aufgeräumt

Now we move on to “strong” (“or unregular”) verbs, which are a bit more complicated.

These are more difficult because they often change their stem in the past participle, so they must be memorized. However, the rest goes along in a similar fashion, adding a ge- to the front of the word and as for the end, an –en is added rather than a –t.

Example: fliegen --> geflogen or stehen --> gestanden singen --> gesungen or sein --> gewesen

In past participle, „sein“ or „haben“ is always in the second position of the sentence while the past participle is always in the last position at the end of the sentence.

Example: Ich habe viele Fußball gespielt 2nd position last position

Here are tables of some of the funkier verbs to help you.





And that is the basics of the past participle. Here’s a slideshow with a quick review and a quiz to help you put your newfound knowledge to use!

media type="custom" key="6210353"
And you can download it here if the slideshow goes too fast (I haven't figured out how to pause the thing =[ )

[[file:Das_Perfekt.ppt]]


There is also another way to express the past tense called the Conversational Past or the Präteritum. Here's a link to the page explaining the Conversational Past: Das Präteritum

Also, if you feel the need to talk about future rather than the past, here's a link to the future tense, known as Das Futur 