Past Participles of German Verbs - Regular (Weak) Verbs

Formation of the Past Participles - Regular Verbs

There are two main classes of German verbs: regular (weak) verbs and irregular (strong) verbs. As the name describes, the regular verbs form their past participles in the same fashion:

Examples of regular verbs (give their past participles) too:

machen

sagen

hören

wohnen

kaufen

suchen

spielen

lernen

reisen

freuen

Notice when you did the exercise at the left you saw not only the past participle but also a form of the helping verb. When you learn or give the past participle of a verb, it is typical in German class to mention the third-person singular form of haben or sein - hat or ist. This way you tell not only the form of the past participle, but also which helping verb it requires in the present perfect tense. Remember, the helping verb haben or sein will ALWAYS agree with its subject. Review the conjugation of these two verbs right now before moving on.
sein

haben

Verb stems that end in a -t, -d, or -n need an extra -e- between the stem and the ending -t suffix. Example:

arbeiten - to work - stem=arbeit- the past participle is hat gearbeitet

Verbs that end in -ieren never have the ge- prefix:

telefonieren - hat telefoniert
studieren - hat studiert
demonstrieren - hat demonstriert
dekorieren - hat dekoriert

Another important point, and this applies to both Regular/weak verbs and Irregular/strong verbs, is:

Verbs which begin with an inseparable prefix DO NOT take the typical ge- prefix.

Examples:	More Examples
Freunde besuchen - hat Freunde besucht Zeit verbringen - hat Zeit verbracht eine Geschichte erzählen - hat eine Geschichte erzählt mir nicht gefallen - hat mir nicht gefallen	bekommen bezahlen bergrüßen vergessen erfahren gewinnen verlieren

Another minor complication: Verb with separable prefixes:

Verwandten einladen - to invite relatives - hat Verwandten eingeladen
die Tür aufmachen - to open the door - hat die Tür aufgemacht
in Hamburg umsteigen - to transfer - ist in Hamburg umgestiegen
mit einem Klassenkameraden ausgehen - to go out with a classmate - ist mit einem Klassenkameraden ausgegangen.

Notice where the typical ge-prefix goes.

Exercise on past participle formation of weak, regular verbs.

Irregular Verbs in German - Past Participle Formation.