Transcript Forming the Present Perfect Tense

In order to form the present perfect in German, you will need to
use a helping verb (Hilfsverb) and a past participle (Partizip II).
These components are also used to form the present perfect in
English but the placement in different.
Look at this sentence in English.
Past Participle
I have played Soccer.
Helping Verb
Compare the English Example with it’s German Counterpart.
Past Participle
I have played Soccer.
Helping Verb
Partizip II
Ich habe Fussball gespielt.
Hilfsverb
In German the Past Participle
is placed at the end of the
sentence.
Forming the past participle of a German Verb can be complicated.
But let’s review some rules for doing so for Regular Verbs. (It is
best to memorize the past participle for Irregular verbs)
Spielen – to play
1st – remove the en from the infinitive form of the verb – this
gives you the stem of the verb.
spiel
2nd – add a ge to the front of the stem
gespiel
3rd – add a t to the end of the stem
gespielt
The great majority of
regular verbs follow this
pattern
If the verb ends in ieren…then you must form the past participle
differently.
studieren – to study
1st – remove the en from the infinitive form of the verb – this
gives you the stem of the verb.
studier
2nd – you do not add a ge to the front but you do add a t to the
stem.
studiert
If the verb contains a separable prefix, such as an, auf, zu, mit,
aus, bei, hin, nach, vor, zurück, fort or ein, then you must form
the past participle differently as well.
aufmachen
1st – remove the en from the infinitive form of the verb – this
gives you the stem of the verb.
aufmach
2nd – then add a t on the end of the stem
aufmacht
3rd – place the ge between the prefix and the rest of the verb.
aufgemacht
If the verb contains an inseparable prefix, such as be, ent, er, ver,
zer or emp, then you must form the past participle differently as
well.
bezahlen – to pay
1st – remove the en from the infinitive form of the verb – this
gives you the stem of the verb.
bezahl
2nd – then add a t on the end of the stem. You do not add a ge.
bezahlt
If the verb ends in nen, ten or den, then you must also form the
past participle differently.
arbeiten – to work
1st – remove the en from the infinitive form of the verb – this
gives you the stem of the verb.
arbeit
2nd – then add an et to the end of the stem.
arbeitet
2nd – then add a ge to the front of the stem.
gearbeitet
Sometimes verbs may contain a combination of these rules.
mitarbeiten – to work with
mitgearbeitet
entwerten – to take away value
entwertet