A2Tenses

German Perfect Tense (Perfekt)

The perfect tense is the most common past tense in spoken German. It uses haben or sein + past participle.

Key Rules

  1. 1Form: haben/sein + past participle
  2. 2Most verbs use 'haben' as auxiliary
  3. 3Motion and state-change verbs use 'sein'
  4. 4Regular past participle: ge- + stem + -t (gemacht)
  5. 5Irregular past participle: ge- + stem + -en (gegangen)

Examples

Ich habe gegessen.

I have eaten. / I ate.

'Essen' uses 'haben' - most verbs do.

Er ist gegangen.

He has gone. / He went.

'Gehen' (motion verb) uses 'sein' as auxiliary.

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

Ich habe gegangen.Ich bin gegangen.

Motion verbs like 'gehen' require 'sein', not 'haben'.

Related Grammar Topics

Tenses

German Present Tense (Präsens)
A1

Tenses

German Simple Past Tense (Präteritum)
B1
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