The Simple Past Tense (Präteritum) in German

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The Simple Past Tense (Präteritum) is commonly used in written German to describe past events, particularly in formal writing, storytelling, and reporting. While the Perfect Tense (Perfekt) is more common in spoken German, learning the simple past is essential for understanding literature, news, and formal contexts.

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What You Will Learn

1. When to use the simple past tense.
2. How to conjugate regular and irregular verbs in the simple past.
3. The difference between regular and irregular forms.
4. Sentence structure in the simple past.
5. Practice exercises to reinforce your understanding.

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When to Use the Simple Past Tense

The simple past is primarily used in:

1. Written narratives:
   • Er erzählte eine spannende Geschichte. (He told an exciting story.)
2. News and reports:
   • Die Polizei fand den Verdächtigen. (The police found the suspect.)
3. Formal or literary writing:
   • Es war ein schöner Tag. (It was a beautiful day.)

For conversational purposes, the perfect tense (Perfekt) is usually preferred.

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Conjugating Regular Verbs in the Simple Past

Regular verbs follow a consistent pattern in the simple past tense:

1. Remove the -en from the infinitive to find the verb stem.
2. Add the simple past endings.

Simple Past Endings for Regular Verbs

Pronoun	Ending	Example: machen (to do, make)
ich	-te	ich machte
du	-test	du machtest
er/sie/es	-te	er machte
wir	-ten	wir machten
ihr	-tet	ihr machtet
sie/Sie	-ten	sie machten

Examples of Regular Verbs

Verb	Stem	Example Sentence
lernen	lern	Ich lernte Deutsch. (I learned German.)
spielen	spiel	Wir spielten Fußball. (We played soccer.)
arbeiten	arbeit	Er arbeitete viel. (He worked a lot.)

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Conjugating Irregular Verbs in the Simple Past

Irregular verbs do not follow the regular pattern and often undergo a vowel change. Instead of the -te endings, irregular verbs take unique endings:

Simple Past Endings for Irregular Verbs

Pronoun	Ending	Example: gehen (to go)
ich	–	ich ging
du	-st	du gingst
er/sie/es	–	er ging
wir	-en	wir gingen
ihr	-t	ihr gingt
sie/Sie	-en	sie gingen

Examples of Irregular Verbs

Verb	Stem Change	Example Sentence
essen	a → aß	Ich aß Pizza. (I ate pizza.)
fahren	a → fuhr	Wir fuhren nach Berlin. (We drove to Berlin.)
sehen	e → sah	Er sah den Film. (He saw the movie.)
trinken	i → trank	Sie tranken Kaffee. (They drank coffee.)

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Sentence Structure in the Simple Past

1. Declarative Sentences

The verb stays in the second position:

• Ich lernte Deutsch. (I learned German.)
• Wir gingen ins Kino. (We went to the cinema.)

2. Questions

For yes/no questions, the verb comes first:

• Kamst du gestern? (Did you come yesterday?)
• Arbeitetest du heute? (Did you work today?)

For W-questions, the question word comes first:

• Wann begann der Unterricht? (When did the class begin?)
• Was trankst du? (What did you drink?)

3. Subordinate Clauses

In subordinate clauses, the verb goes to the end:

• Ich wusste, dass er kam. (I knew that he came.)
• Wir hofften, dass sie lernte. (We hoped that she learned.)

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Common Irregular Verbs and Their Conjugations

Infinitive	Simple Past Stem	Example Sentence
bleiben	blieb	Er blieb zu Hause. (He stayed home.)
denken	dachte	Ich dachte an dich. (I thought of you.)
finden	fand	Sie fand die Schlüssel. (She found the keys.)
kommen	kam	Wir kamen spät. (We arrived late.)
schreiben	schrieb	Er schrieb einen Brief. (He wrote a letter.)

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Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Regular Verbs

Conjugate the following verbs in the simple past:

1. lernen
2. spielen
3. arbeiten

Exercise 2: Irregular Verbs

Write the simple past form for these verbs:

1. gehen
2. essen
3. bleiben
4. trinken
5. sehen

Exercise 3: Complete the Sentences

Fill in the blanks with the correct simple past form:

1. Ich __________ (lernen) Deutsch.
2. Wir __________ (fahren) nach München.
3. Sie __________ (essen) ein Eis.
4. Er __________ (sehen) einen Hund.
5. Du __________ (spielen) Gitarre.

Exercise 4: Translate the Sentences

Translate these sentences into German:

1. I wrote a letter.
2. They stayed at home.
3. Did you see the movie?
4. We drank coffee.
5. She learned French.

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Summary

In this lesson, you learned:

• When and how to use the simple past tense (Präteritum).
• How to conjugate regular and irregular verbs in the simple past.
• The word order rules for declarative sentences, questions, and subordinate clauses.

Homework

1. Write 5 sentences using regular verbs in the simple past.
2. Write 5 sentences using irregular verbs in the simple past.
3. Practice forming simple past questions with wann and was.

Next Lesson: German Prepositions and Their Cases.