Connect past events and choose forms suited to your narrative.
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What you will learn
Connect past events and choose forms suited to your narrative.
Narrating the past: perfect and simple past
The perfect is common when talking about completed events: Gestern habe ich eingekauft. It uses a form of haben or sein and a final participle. Written narratives often use the simple past: Gestern kaufte ich ein. Both can describe the same event; exercises specify which form is required.
Sein, haben and verbs such as müssen and können often take the simple past even in speech: Ich war müde und musste arbeiten. A report can combine perfect events with war or hatte for surrounding states without implying different time periods.
Regular verbs use -te in the simple past: machen → machte, with personal endings. Learn irregular forms: gehen → ging, kommen → kam, sehen → sah. Use zuerst, dann and danach to order events; the finite verb stays in second position after them.
Rule summary
Form
Example or use
Perfekt
ich habe gelernt · ich bin gegangen
Präteritum
ich lernte · ich ging · ich war · ich hatte
Examples
Gestern habe ich gearbeitet. Am Abend war ich müde.
Meaning
I worked yesterday. In the evening I was tired.
Zuerst ging ich zum Bahnhof. Dann nahm ich den Zug.
Meaning
First I went to the station. Then I took the train.
Wir sind spät angekommen und hatten Hunger.
Meaning
We arrived late and were hungry.
Lesson exercises
B1 · 10
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Exercise 1 / 10
Choose the answer that fits the context and requested tense.
Ich ___ gestern gearbeitet. (Perfekt)
Correct answer ✓Incorrect answer
Correct answer: habe
Why? Answer: habe — In the perfect, conjugate the auxiliary and put the participle last.
Exercise 2 / 10
Choose the answer that fits the context and requested tense.
Wir ___ spät angekommen. (Perfekt)
Correct answer ✓Incorrect answer
Correct answer: sind
Why? Answer: sind — This verb describes movement to another place and takes sein in the perfect.
Exercise 3 / 10
Choose the answer that fits the context and requested tense.
Gestern ___ ich krank. (sein, Präteritum)
Correct answer ✓Incorrect answer
Correct answer: war
Why? Answer: war — This is the simple past form agreeing with the subject.
Exercise 4 / 10
Choose the answer that fits the context and requested tense.
Sie ___ keine Zeit. (Lena; haben, Präteritum)
Correct answer ✓Incorrect answer
Correct answer: hatte
Why? Answer: hatte — This is the simple past form agreeing with the subject.
Exercise 5 / 10
Choose the answer that fits the context and requested tense.
Ich ___ zum Bahnhof. (gehen, Präteritum)
Correct answer ✓Incorrect answer
Correct answer: ging
Why? Answer: ging — This is the simple past form agreeing with the subject.
Exercise 6 / 10
Choose the answer that fits the context and requested tense.
Wir ___ einen Film. (sehen, Präteritum)
Correct answer ✓Incorrect answer
Correct answer: sahen
Why? Answer: sahen — This is the simple past form agreeing with the subject.
Exercise 7 / 10
Choose the answer that fits the context and requested tense.
Zuerst habe ich gekocht. Danach ___.
Correct answer ✓Incorrect answer
Correct answer: habe ich gegessen
Why? Answer: habe ich gegessen — After dann or danach, the finite verb precedes the subject.
Exercise 8 / 10
Choose the answer that fits the context and requested tense.
Er hat Brot ___. (kaufen, Perfekt)
Correct answer ✓Incorrect answer
Correct answer: gekauft
Why? Answer: gekauft — In the perfect, conjugate the auxiliary and put the participle last.
Exercise 9 / 10
Choose the answer that fits the context and requested tense.
Ich ___ gestern arbeiten. (müssen, Präteritum)
Correct answer ✓Incorrect answer
Correct answer: musste
Why? Answer: musste — This is the simple past form agreeing with the subject.
Exercise 10 / 10
Choose the answer that fits the context and requested tense.
Dann / wir / nach Hause fahren (Perfekt)
Correct answer ✓Incorrect answer
Correct answer: Dann sind wir nach Hause gefahren.
Why? Answer: Dann sind wir nach Hause gefahren. — After dann or danach, the finite verb precedes the subject.
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Grammar references for further reading
Original B1 lessons, examples and exercises by WikiGerman. Study in order or choose a topic to review.