{"id":7770,"date":"2013-02-14T10:40:56","date_gmt":"2013-02-14T09:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/?p=7770"},"modified":"2013-09-14T12:07:47","modified_gmt":"2013-09-14T11:07:47","slug":"german-imperfect-tense-with-example-sentences-and-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/7770\/german-imperfect-tense-with-example-sentences-and-test","title":{"rendered":"German Imperfect Tense with example sentences and test"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Imperfect Tense with Example Sentences and Test<\/h3>\n

This German past tense, the imperfect tense, is used to talk about situations in the past such as:<\/p>\n

A situation which happens in the past which has no link to the present anymore:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

For example:<\/strong>
\nShe bought a red bag which she gave her friend. – Sie kaufte<\/strong> eine rote Tasche, die sie ihrer Freundin schenkte<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A situation which describes how people felt or how things were in the past: <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

For example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was glad when he came home. – Ich war<\/strong> froh, als er nach Hause kam<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A situation which used to happen regularly in the past: <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

For example:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I played the piano every day. – Ich spielte<\/strong> jeden Tag Klavier.<\/p>\n

The imperfect tense is also often used in written German. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Forming a Sentence in the Imperfect Tense<\/h3>\n

Forming a sentence in the imperfect tense depends on whether the verb is a weak verb<\/strong>, a strong verb<\/strong>, or a mixed verb<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Forming the imperfect tense with weak and mixed verbs:<\/h3>\n

When using a weak verb<\/a>, you need to change the ending and leave the stem as it is in the present tense. With mixed verbs, the ending follows the same form as weak verbs. However, the stem of the verb will change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pronoun<\/strong><\/td>\n Ending <\/strong><\/td>\nExample <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ich<\/td>\n-te<\/td>\nich machte<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
du<\/td>\n-test<\/td>\ndu machtest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
er\/sie\/es<\/td>\n-te<\/td>\ner\/sie\/es machte<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
wir<\/td>\n-ten<\/td>\nwir machten<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ihr<\/td>\n-tet<\/td>\nihr machtet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sie\/Sie<\/td>\n-ten<\/td>\nsie\/Sie machten<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Here are a few examples of how to get a weak verb into the past tense:<\/strong><\/p>\n

spielen \u2013 to play \u2013 ich spielte<\/strong><\/p>\n

machen \u2013 to make \u2013 ich machte<\/strong><\/p>\n

reden \u2013 to speak \u2013 ich redete<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are a few examples of how to get a mixed verb into the past tense: <\/strong><\/p>\n

kennen – to know \u2013 ich kannte<\/p>\n

rennen \u2013 to run \u2013 ich rannte<\/p>\n


\nA little twist:<\/strong> Some weak verbs<\/a> require a cheeky ‘e’ to be added depending on which letter the stem of the verb ends with. <\/p>\n

If it ends with d, t, m or n you need to put an extra \u201ce\u201d before the usual imperfect ending.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

For example:<\/strong> ich arbeite<\/strong>te \u2013 I worked (I was working)<\/p>\n

However, just to keep you on your toes, if the stem ends with m or n and<\/strong> has either l, r or h in front of it, the e is not added in the du, er\/sie\/es and ihr forms. <\/span><\/em>
\nFor example:<\/strong> du lerntest \u2013 you learned (you were learning)
\n<\/p>\n

Forming the imperfect tense with strong verbs:<\/h3>\n

The main difference between weak and strong verbs<\/a> in the imperfect tense is that strong verbs have different endings.<\/p>\n

As with mixed verbs, the stem may change when going into the past tense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pronoun<\/strong><\/td>\nEnding<\/strong><\/td>\nExample<\/strong> (trinken)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ich<\/td>\n–<\/td>\nich trank<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
du<\/td>\n-st<\/td>\ndu trankst<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
er\/sie\/es<\/td>\n–<\/td>\ner\/sie\/es trank<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
wir<\/td>\n-en<\/td>\nwir tranken<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ihr<\/td>\n-t<\/td>\nihr trankt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sie\/Sie<\/td>\n-en<\/td>\nsie\/Sie tranken<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Examples: <\/strong><\/p>\n

essen \u2013 to eat \u2013 ich a\u00df <\/strong>
\nfahren \u2013 to drive \u2013 ich fuhr<\/strong>
\ntrinken \u2013 to trink \u2013 ich trank <\/strong><\/p>\n

Example Sentences<\/h3>\n

Es began zu regnen.
\nHeinz d\u00fcrfte leider nicht mitkommen.
\nWir bestellten Lasagne zum Abendessen.
\nCamren holte die Zeitung aus dem Briefkasten.
\nJ\u00fcrgen wog fr\u00fcher mehr als Bj\u00f6rn.
\nEs ging ihm letztes Jahr sehr schlecht.
\nMein erstes Haus kaufte ich vor 40 Jahren.
\nAmanda spielte fr\u00fcher jeden Tag Fl\u00f6te.
\nWir liebten unseren Opa.
\nIch fuhr fr\u00fcher jeden Tag mit dem Fahrrad zur Schule.<\/p>\n

Test what you’ve learned about the Imperfect Tense<\/h3>\n

1. Meine Freundin __ sich in den Finger. (schneiden)
\n2. Fr\u00fcher __ mein Bruder immer meine Hausaufgaben. (machen)
\n3. __ du fr\u00fcher nicht Herrn Weber in Biologie? (haben)
\n4. Ich __ ihn an. (schreien)
\n5. Meine Oma __ mir abends immer ein Lied vor. (singen)
\n6. Wieso __ er ins Krankenhaus? (m\u00fcssen)
\n7. Marco __ dir nur helfen. (wollen)
\n8. Als Kind __ ich oft in diesem Sessel. (sitzen)
\n9. Herr Wei\u00df __ sein ganzes Leben lang. (sparen)
\n10. Wir __ 1972 in Hannover. (studieren)
\n11. Conny __ sich fr\u00fcher heimlich mit ihrem Exfreund. (treffen)
\n12. Er __ mir jeden Donnerstag Nachhilfe. (geben)
\n13. Wieso __ ihr damals in England heiraten? (wollen)
\n14. Er __ am 25. April auf die Welt. (kommen)
\n15. Fr\u00fcher __ wir sie Mona. (nennen)<\/p>\n

The solution to the test is here Solution of the German Imperfect Tense Test<\/a> \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imperfect Tense with Example Sentences and Test This German past tense, the imperfect tense, is used to talk about situations in the past such as: A situation which happens in the past which has no link to the present anymore: For example: She bought a red bag which she gave her friend. – Sie kaufte […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7770"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15124,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7770\/revisions\/15124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}