Das Perfekt (The German Present Perfect Tense)

1. Der Gebrauch (= Usage ):

The German Present Perfect Tense is used for/in conversational-type exchanges about past events/situations.

Since conversational-type exchanges are in no way limited to oral conversations, but include writing that has a conversational tone, the present perfect tense is the German past tense used both for/in oral conversations about the past and for/in conversational-type writing about the past.

Because of this conversational usage, the German Present Perfect Tense frequently is also called the Conversational Past.)

In other words, the usage of the German Present Perfect Tense differs from that of the Present Perfect Tense in English.

In English, the Present Perfect Tense frequently / generally speaking is used for actions that started in the past, but continue into the present or, at least, have a lasting effect into the present: I have been waiting here for hours. Don't worry, I have done that already. I have read the book. I have worked very hard!

In contrast, the German Present Perfect Tense is used for conversational-type exchanges about any events/situations that took place in the past.

As a result, the German Present Perfect Tense can express any one of these English past tenses:

I worked. = Ich habe gearbeitet. I did work. = Ich habe gearbeitet. I was working. = Ich habe gearbeitet. I have worked. = Ich habe gearbeitet. I have been working. = Ich habe gearbeitet.

(Note: However, if the action [rather than the mere effect] started in the past and continues into the present, we use the present tense in German, not the present perfect tense as you do in English: I have been working for hours [, and I am still working]. = Ich arbeite schon seit Stunden [, und ich arbeite immer noch.]) Das Perfekt (The German Present Perfect Tense)

2. Die Form (= Form/Formation):

Conjugated Verb + Nonconjugated Verb = Present tense form = Past Participle of haben/sein of main/full verb (= Auxiliary) (Participium perfectum)

Ich habe getanzt. Du hast gelernt. Herr Müller hat Radio gehört. Wir haben Basketball gespielt. Ihr habt gelacht. Sie haben gearbeitet.

Ich bin gereist. Du bist gereist. Die Familie ist gereist. Wir sind abgereist. Ihr seid abgereist. Sie sind abgereist. Es ist passiert. Conjugated Verb + Nonconjugated Verb = Present tense form = Past Participle of haben/sein of main/full verb (= Auxiliary) (Participium perfectum)

Ich habe geschlafen. Du hast geschrieben. Herr Müller hat uns angerufen. Wir haben das Buch gelesen. Ihr habt den Kuli genommen. Sie haben Gold gefunden.

Ich bin nach Pittsburgh gefahren. Du bist hier geblieben. Die Familie ist zurückgekommen. Wir sind eingeschlafen Ihr seid spazieren gegangen. Sie sind gelaufen. So, how do I know / figure out which verbs use (a form of) haben as past auxiliary and which verbs use (a form of) sein ?? Don't panic!!! That's easy, really: Essentially speaking, verbs that take (a form of) sein as past auxiliary are first and foremost 1. intransitive verbs of locomotion, that is verbs of locomotion without a direct object, = verbs of MOTION WITH DIRECTION (= motion from one place to another) that have NO direct (= accusative) object. 2. In addition, there is a handful of verbs that are classified as denoting either "existential states of being" or "changes from one existential state into another one." They also take sein as past auxiliary. But, ooooppppppsssssss, forget that classification! After all, it's just a handful of verbs, and the temptation to construe any action under the sun into an "existential state of being" or a "change from one existential state into another one" simply is too big. You are much better off to simply learn those verbs: sein werden bleiben sterben verbleiben versterben einschlafen eindösen aufwachen All other verbs take (a form of)haben as past auxiliary. Formation of the Past Participle A. Weak Regular

1. Take the -en/n off the infinitiv: spielen > -spiel- hören > -hör- machen > -mach- tanzen > -tanz- 2. Add a -t to the end to the infinivitive stem: -spielt , -macht , -hört , -tanzt Note: a) for stems ending in -d or -t : add -et -arbeitet b) for polysyllabic stems ending in -n: add -et : -öffnet , -regnet 3. For plain stem verbs put a ge- in front: gespielt, gemacht, gehört, getanzt gearbeitet, geöffnet, geregnet 4. For seperable prefix verbs, follow steps 1+2, but put the ge- in between the prefix and the stem: abgereist, zurückgereist, eingepackt aufgemacht, zugemacht, kennengelernt 5. For inseperable prefix verbs, follow steps 1+2; stop! You are done! They add no ge- . The past participle looks like this: erlebt, zerstört, besucht, betrachtet, vermietet, verkauft (übernachtet, untersucht) 6. For verbs whose infinitive ends in -ieren , follow steps 1+2; stop! You are done! They add no ge- . The resulting past participles look like this: studiert, funktioniert, demonstriert, protestiert Aside: Why are these verbs / past participle forms called "weak"? Well, blame those grammarians from the Romantic Period (that's those ancient times around 1800, give and take a few)! They fancied flamboyant, emotional, romantic grammar terms. (After all, they were Romantics!) So, any verb that forms its past participle with -ed/-d in English or -t/-et in German was called "weak" -- as opposed to the "strong" verbs that have a mind of their own, cause more fuss, and complicate the life of students and professors of foreign languages: go > gone, drive > driven, swim > swam, get > got/gotten, write / written, come > come, etc.). By the way, the "weak" past formation with a dental plosive(-ed/-d in English or -t/-et in German) is one of the major features of the family of so-called Germanic languages. It distinguishes/separates the Germanic languages from other Indo-European languages / language groups! Formation of the Past Participle B. Weak Irregular

They obbey all the rules listed above (in A.) for the regular weak verbs. (That's the good news!) However, they add a little twist by changing a few sounds in the stem: bringen > gebracht (bring > brought) denken > gedacht (think > thought) rennen > gerannt kennen > gekannt nennen > genannt wissen > gewusst Relax: There are only six of those stems as far as the past participle is concerned! Mind you they can combine with both seperable and inseperable prefixes; so don't let your guard down entirely. Simply follow rules the rules you already learned in A. 4+5: mitbringen > mitgebracht verbringen > verbracht wegrennen > weggerannt erkennen > erkannt

ernennen > ernannt Formation of the Past Participle C. Strong

1. The past participle of strong verbs does NOT end in -t, but rather in -en . 2. Sometimes the past participle stem ostensibly is the same as the infinitive stem; sometimes it contains vowel changes (called "Ablaut"), as well as a few other changes ocassionally: kommen > -komm- singen > -sung- schwimmen > -schwomm- gehen > -gang- essen > -gessen Sorry, but you simply will have to learn these forms. Mind you, their number is limited, and frequently, these participle forms resemble each other in German and English, as they often go back to our common Indo- European and Proto-Germanic linguistic roots. 3. For plain stem verbs put a ge- in front: gekommen, gesungen, geschwommen, gegangen, gegessen, geflogen 4. For seperable prefix verbs, follow steps 1+2, but put the ge- in between the prefix and the stem: angekommen, zurückgekommen, abgefahren, weggegangen, aufgestanden 5. For inseperable prefix verbs, follow steps 1+2; stop! You are done! They add no ge- to the past participle: bekommen, empfangen,

vergessen, verstanden, missverstanden Infinitiv Partizip Perfekt spielen lernen kaufen arbeiten reisen zurückreisen abreisen kennenlernen mitarbeiten besuchen erleben betrachten besichtigen studieren fotografieren funktionieren passieren bringen mitbringen denken kennen wissen Infinitiv Partizip Perfekt spielen gespielt lernen gelernt kaufen gekauft arbeiten gearbeitet reisen gereist zurückreisen zurückgereist abreisen abgereist kennenlernen kennengelernt mitarbeiten mitgearbeitet besuchen besucht erleben erlebt betrachten betrachtet besichtigen besichtigt studieren studiert fotografieren fotografiert funktionieren funktioniert passieren passiert bringen gebracht mitbringen mitgebracht denken gedacht kennen gekannt wissen gewusst Infinitiv Partizip Perfekt fahren kommen gehen stehen schwimmen schlafen sehen trinken essen vergessen verstehen bekommen einschlafen abfahren aufstehen Infinitiv Partizip Perfekt fahren gefahren kommen gekommen gehen gegangen stehen gestanden schwimmen geschwommen schlafen geschlafen sehen gesehen trinken getrunken essen gegessen vergessen vergessen verstehen verstanden bekommen bekommen einschlafen eingeschlafen abfahren abgefahren aufstehen aufgestanden