German Präteritum: The Narrative Past

German has two main ways to talk about the past:

• Perfekt is the past tense commonly used in spoken language: Ich habe gespielt. – I played.
• Präteritum is mainly used in written language and for narration: Ich spielte. – I played.

Important:

• In everyday speech, German speakers generally use the Perfekt.
• The Präteritum is mainly found in writing, including novels, fairy tales and newspapers, as well as in official communications.
• Some verbs are also very commonly used in the Präteritum in speech: sein, haben, werden and the modal auxiliaries müssen, können, dürfen, sollen, wollen and mögen.

When is the Präteritum used?

• In fairy tales and stories:
  Es war einmal ein König. – Once upon a time there was a king.
• In newspapers and news reports:
  Die Polizei meldete den Unfall. – The police reported the accident.
• In official texts:
  Der Vertrag trat gestern in Kraft. – The contract came into force yesterday.
• With some common verbs in speech as well:
  Ich war müde. – I was tired.
  Er hatte Hunger. – He was hungry.
  Wir mussten früh aufstehen. – We had to get up early.

How to form the Präteritum

German verbs in the Präteritum belong to three main groups: weak verbs, strong verbs and mixed verbs.

Weak verbs (regelmäßige Verben)

Weak verbs follow a regular pattern:

verb stem + -te + personal ending

Example: machen – to do or make

• ich machte
• du machtest
• er/sie/es machte
• wir machten
• ihr machtet
• sie/Sie machten

Example sentence:
Gestern machte ich meine Hausaufgaben. – Yesterday I did my homework.

Because the Präteritum of weak verbs is completely regular, these verbs are usually easy to learn.

Strong verbs (unregelmäßige Verben)

Strong verbs are irregular:

• the stem often changes, for example through a vowel change;
• there is no -te ending in the third-person singular;
• their forms must be learned individually.

Example: gehen – to go

• ich ging
• du gingst
• er/sie/es ging
• wir gingen
• ihr gingt
• sie/Sie gingen

Example sentence:
Wir gingen ins Kino. – We went to the cinema.

Other examples of strong verbs include:

• kommen → kam
• sehen → sah
• finden → fand
• nehmen → nahm
• schreiben → schrieb

The Präteritum forms of strong verbs are not regular and must be memorised.

Mixed verbs (Mischverben)

Mixed verbs combine features of weak and strong verbs:

• the stem changes, as with strong verbs;
• the verb also takes the -te ending, as with weak verbs.

Examples include:

• bringen → brachte
• denken → dachte
• kennen → kannte
• wissen → wusste

Example sentences:

• Er brachte das Buch zurück. – He brought the book back.
• Ich wusste die Antwort. – I knew the answer.

The list of mixed verbs is fixed and short, but each verb still needs to be learned separately.

Important verbs commonly used in the Präteritum

• sein – ich war, du warst, er war, wir waren, ihr wart, sie waren
  Ich war gestern zu Hause. – I was at home yesterday.
• haben – ich hatte, du hattest, er hatte, wir hatten, ihr hattet, sie hatten
  Wir hatten keine Zeit. – We had no time.
• werden – ich wurde, du wurdest, er wurde, wir wurden, ihr wurdet, sie wurden
  Es wurde dunkel. – It became dark.

More example sentences

• Ich spielte den ganzen Nachmittag Fußball. – I played football all afternoon.
• Der Schüler schrieb einen Aufsatz. – The student wrote an essay.
• Wir machten eine Reise nach Italien. – We took a trip to Italy.
• Er brachte seinen Freund mit. – He brought his friend along.
• Ich wusste nichts davon. – I knew nothing about it.
• Das Wetter war schön. – The weather was nice.
• Sie hatten Glück. – They were lucky.
• Es wurde kalt. – It became cold.

Negation

Negation works in the same way as with other German tenses:

• nicht comes after the verb or at the end of the sentence.
• kein comes before a noun.

Examples:

• Ich spielte nicht im Garten. – I did not play in the garden.
• Er hatte keine Zeit. – He had no time.

Questions

In Präteritum questions, the verb comes first.

• Hattest du gestern Schule? – Did you have school yesterday?
• War er krank? – Was he ill?
• Schriebst du einen Brief? – Did you write a letter?

Typical mistakes

1. Mixing up Perfekt and Präteritum in speech
   • Written language: Gestern ging ich ins Kino.
   • More natural in speech: Gestern bin ich ins Kino gegangen.
2. Using a regular ending with a strong verb
   • Incorrect: Ich gehte nach Hause.
   • Correct: Ich ging nach Hause.
3. Using a regular form for a mixed verb
   • Incorrect: Ich bringte das Buch.
   • Correct: Ich brachte das Buch.

Practical steps for learning the Präteritum

1. Use the Perfekt for most everyday conversations.
2. Practise the Präteritum when reading stories, novels, newspapers and official texts.
3. Memorise the forms of sein, haben and werden first, together with the modal auxiliaries.
4. Learn weak verbs with the regular -te pattern.
5. Make a separate list of strong and mixed verbs, including forms such as ging, brachte and wusste.
6. Write short practice sentences, such as Ich lernte gestern., Der Schüler schrieb einen Brief. and Ich hatte kein Geld.

Summary

• The Präteritum of weak verbs is regular and uses the -te ending.
• Strong verbs are irregular and change their stem, so their forms must be learned.
• Mixed verbs form a short irregular group and also need to be memorised.
• The Präteritum is used in written language, while the Perfekt is mainly used in speech.
• sein, haben, werden and the modal auxiliaries are also commonly used in the Präteritum when speaking.