Verbs & Verb Forms – A2 German Grammar Made Simple
Perfect Tense – Talking About the Past
In spoken German, the most common way to talk about the past is not with the “Präteritum” but with the Perfekt. It’s used for things that are finished and that happened recently or at an undefined time in the past. Think of it as the spoken version of the English past simple.
The perfect tense is formed with two parts:
– a helping verb (either haben or sein)
– the past participle (Partizip II) of the main verb, which usually goes at the end of the sentence.
For most regular verbs, the past participle is formed by adding ge- at the beginning and -t at the end.
For irregular verbs, the stem often changes and the participle ends in -en.
Examples:
Ich habe gearbeitet. → I worked.
Sie hat Deutsch gelernt. → She learned German.
Wir haben gegessen. → We ate.
Er hat viel gelesen. → He read a lot.
Tip: Learn the participles of common irregular verbs by heart – essen → gegessen, gehen → gegangen, nehmen → genommen, sehen → gesehen. These are essential for real conversations.
Haben or Sein?
The choice between haben and sein can confuse learners at first, but there’s a clear rule:
Most verbs take haben, but some take sein – mainly verbs that show movement or a change of state.
Use sein with:
– movement (gehen, fahren, kommen, fliegen, laufen)
– change of condition (einschlafen, aufstehen, sterben, werden)
– three special verbs: sein, bleiben, and werden
Examples with sein:
Ich bin zur Schule gegangen. → I went to school.
Sie ist sehr alt geworden. → She became very old.
Wir sind früh aufgestanden. → We got up early.
All other verbs – most of them – use haben.
Examples with haben:
Ich habe einen Kaffee getrunken. → I drank a coffee.
Wir haben lange gewartet. → We waited a long time.
Er hat mit seiner Mutter telefoniert. → He called his mother.
Tip: If the verb describes an action where you go or change, try sein. If not, use haben.
Separable and Inseparable Verbs
German has many verbs with prefixes. Some of these prefixes are separable - they break away in a sentence. Others are inseparable - they always stay with the verb. This affects both sentence structure and how you form the perfect tense.
Separable verbs: The prefix goes to the end of the sentence in the present tense.
Ich stehe jeden Tag um sieben Uhr auf. → I get up every day at 7.
Ich rufe meine Mutter an. → I call my mother.
In the perfect tense, ge- goes between the prefix and the stem.
Ich bin um sieben Uhr aufgestanden. → I got up at 7.
Ich habe meine Mutter angerufen. → I called my mother.
Inseparable verbs: The prefix stays attached, and you don’t use ge- in the participle.
Ich habe meinen Opa besucht. → I visited my grandpa.
Sie hat alles verstanden. → She understood everything.
Er hat das vergessen. → He forgot that.
Tip: Memorise which prefixes are separable and inseparable.
Separable: ab-, an-, auf-, aus-, ein-, mit-, vor-, zurück-
Inseparable: be-, ent-, er-, ge-, ver-, zer-, miss-
Also note: Some verbs with the same root can exist in both forms – but mean different things.
Ich komme an. → I arrive. (separable)
Ich bekomme ein Geschenk. → I receive a gift. (inseparable)
Reflexive Verbs
Some verbs in German are reflexive. This means the subject does something to or for itself – and you use a reflexive pronoun like mich, dich, sich, uns, euch.
Common reflexive verbs:
sich freuen – to be happy
sich beeilen – to hurry
sich treffen – to meet
sich waschen – to wash (yourself)
sich interessieren – to be interested
Examples:
Ich freue mich auf das Wochenende. → I’m looking forward to the weekend.
Du beeilst dich. → You’re hurrying.
Wir treffen uns später. → We’re meeting later.
Some reflexive verbs take the dative form when a body part or object is involved.
Ich ziehe mir die Jacke an. → I put on my jacket.
Er wäscht sich die Hände. → He washes his hands.
Wir kämmen uns die Haare. → We’re combing our hair.
Tip: Learn reflexive verbs as fixed combinations - not just the verb, but the whole phrase.
Example: sich erinnern an + Akkusativ → to remember something
Ich erinnere mich an den Film. → I remember the film.
Future Tense – Using Werden
At A2 level, learners begin to build simple future tense sentences using werden. This is called Futur I. It’s formed with:
werden (conjugated) + infinitive of the main verb at the end
Examples:
Ich werde morgen arbeiten. → I will work tomorrow.
Wir werden im Sommer nach Deutschland fahren. → We will go to Germany in summer.
Wirst du am Wochenende mitkommen? → Will you come along at the weekend?
In spoken German, it’s also very common to use present tense + time expression to talk about the future.
Ich gehe morgen ins Kino. → I’m going to the cinema tomorrow.
Sie kommt nächste Woche zurück. → She’s coming back next week.
Tip: Use Futur I when you want to be more formal, give predictions, or when the sentence doesn’t include a clear time expression.
Summary – what you should remember
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Perfekt is used for past events in spoken German. It is made with haben or sein and the past participle.
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Use sein for verbs of motion or change of state, and for sein, bleiben, and werden.
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Separable verbs split in the sentence and form the participle with ge- in the middle.
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Inseparable verbs do not split and never use ge-.
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Reflexive verbs need a reflexive pronoun. Learn them as whole phrases: sich freuen, sich erinnern an, sich beeilen.
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Use werden + infinitive to form the future tense. In everyday speech, present tense with time expressions is often used instead.