German – Perfect tense

Explanation and activities

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Rachel Hawkes

G

Grammar explanation

Perfect tense - things that have happened in the past

To talk about what you did, use the present tense of ‘haben’ and a past participle.

Regular past participles sandwich the stem with ge- and –t.

Note! Some verbs with ‘haben’ have past participles which don't follow this pattern! 

• Ich habe Kuchen gegessen.
• Sie hat Freunde besucht.

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

G

Grammar explanation

Perfect tense – Word order

• The present tense of the verb ‘haben’ is always the second idea of the sentence.
• The past participle always goes to the end of the sentence.

English learners of German sometimes find it tricky to use the perfect tense.

Why?

1. English word order is different. Learners don't expect a past participle at the end of a sentence.
2. Phrases like ‘last week’ or ‘yesterday’ give away the meaning, so it’s easy to ignore the verb elements.

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Lesen

Susi Sorglos is on the beach writing about her summer holidays so far. However, her diary got wet and smudged!

Read what Susi has written. Decide whether she is describing what she has done or what she is doing.

• For past activities circle ‘Ich habe’.
• For present / ongoing activities circle ‘Ich’.

In den Sommerferien

Remember

The perfect tense = ‘haben’ + past participle of the main verb.

The past participle always comes at the end of the sentence.

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

ANTWORTEN

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Reading exercise

ANTWORTEN

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

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Rachel Hawkes

Hören

Im Urlaub

Susi Sorglos is chatting to a friend about her summer. Unfortunately, the line keeps breaking up. Can you work out which activities Susi has done and which ones she is doing?

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• Circle Ich habe for past activities
• Circle Ich for current activities

Remember

The perfect tense = ‘haben’ + past participle of the main verb.

The past participle always comes at the end of the sentence.

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Hören

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

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Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Hören

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

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ANSWERS

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Rachel Hawkes

Hören

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

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Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Hören

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

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Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Hören

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

5

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ANSWERS

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Hören

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Ich / Ich habe

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

Informed by a Language and Linguistics Area Studies Subject Centre materials development project

9

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ANSWERS

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Rachel Hawkes

Schreiben

You are on holiday. You are doing a lot, but nothing is the same as you did last year on holiday. Use all the cards. Write five sentences to describe your activities this year, and five to say what you did last year. Remember to use the right verb(s) for past and present.

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Du bist im Urlaub!

Rachel Hawkes

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Rachel Hawkes

Sprechen

speaking / listening

Sam und Chloe im Urlaub

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Sam and Chloe are friends chatting on the phone about their holidays.

In pairs, imagine you are Sam and Chloe.

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Using the cards, tell each other what you did on holiday last year and what are doing now.

Remember to use the right verb(s) for past/present!

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Inge Alferink

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Rachel Hawkes

Hilfe

• visit museum 🡪 Museum besichtigen
• visit [Switzlerland/Italy]🡪[die Schweiz/Italien] besuchen
• eat [pizza/ice cream] 🡪 [Pizza/Eis] essen
• read a book 🡪 ein Buch lesen
• meet a friend 🡪 mit einem Freund treffen
• dance 🡪 tanzen
• play [football/tennis] 🡪 [Fußball/Tennis] spielen
• write postcards 🡪 Postkarten schreiben

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speaking / listening

Inge Alferink / Rachel Hawkes

60

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ANFANG

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Rachel Hawkes

Sams Urlaub

1. visited museum

(last year)

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3. eat pizza

(this year)

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4. read a book

(this year)

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2. visit Switzerland

(last year)

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5. meet a friend

(this year)

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6. dance

(last year)

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speaking / listening

Inge Alferink

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Chloes Urlaub

1. play football

(this year)

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3. play tennis

(last year)

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4. eat ice cream

(this year)

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2. write postcards

(this year)

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5. visit Italy

(last year)

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6. dance

(last year)

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speaking / listening

Inge Alferink

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Sams Urlaub

speaking / listening

Inge Alferink

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Sams Urlaub

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speaking / listening

Inge Alferink

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Rachel Hawkes

Chloes Urlaub

speaking / listening

Inge Alferink

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Chloes Urlaub

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speaking / listening

Inge Alferink

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes