Das Imperfekt - The Simple Past Tense

Regular versus Irregular Verbs

Study the following notes and websites, then transform the following sentences from the present tense (Präsens) to the simple past tense (Imperfekt).

Note
For umlauts and Ess-tsets use this convention:
  • ä = type alt 0228 Remember to keep the alt key depressed as you hammer out the other 4 digits.
  • ö = type alt 0246
  • ü = type alt 0252
  • Ü = type alt 0220
  • Ä = type alt 0196
  • Ö = type alt 0214
  • ß = type alt 0223
Also, ALL questions must be answered for this exercise to work.

Review

There are two broad categories of verbs in German - Regular (or weak) verbs and Irregular (or strong) verbs. They form their simple past tense forms differently.

Endings for the simple past tense forms. Compare and contrast

Regular Verbs

Irregular Verbs

ich -te -
du-test-st
er
sie
es
-te -
wir-ten-en
ihr-tet-t
sie-ten-en
Sie-ten-en
For regular verbs, these endings are added to the stem of the verb
Common regular verbsTheir stems
  • stellen
  • machen
  • hören
  • besuchen
  • spielen
  • schicken
  • kaufen
  • stell-
  • mach-
  • hör-
  • besuch-
  • spiel-
  • schick-
  • kauf-
For the irregular verbs, you add these endings to the irregular simple past tense form. These forms either must be memorized or looked up. Review the chart at the German Electronic Grammar Textbook

If you cannot decide whether a verb is regular or irregular, ask yourself, "Does its past participle end in a -t?" If it does then the verb is essentially a regular verb. If the past participle ends in an -en, then the verb is strong (irregular) and its simple past tense can be looked up in a chart.

There are two groups of verb which are irregular weak, that is, their past participles end in a -t (indicating a regular/weak variety) but they have a vowel change in their simple past tense forms (indicating an irregular/strong variety). Study the paradigms of these verbs:

Now for the Aufgabe. Transform the sentences from the present tense to simple past tense.

Name

Date


  1. Die Männer spielen gern Basketball.


  2. Aber ich schlafe samstags bis 12 Uhr.


  3. Sie gehen ins Kino.


  4. Der Mann vergißt sein Geld.


  5. Das Mädchen kauft eine Karte für ihn.


  6. Nachher fahren wir aufs Land mit dem Auto.


  7. Du hast keine CDs von dieser Rockgruppe.


  8. Das Kind trinkt immer Apfelsaft.


  9. Herr Meier, verstehen Sie meine Frage?


  10. Die Jugendlichen sprechen immer in der Klasse.





    Compare your work

    Cybergerman and Das Online-Deutschstudium, © 1996, 1997, 1998, Nabeel S. Kandah. All Rights Reserved.