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Learn how to use the present perfect tense, including the different ways the past participle may be constructed, and which auxiliary verb to use.
The present perfect tense is the first of three past tenses we will learn about during this course. It is generally used to express actions completed in the recent past. We use this tense often in everyday conversation.
Here are a couple of example sentences, using the present perfect tense:
The main sentence structure used for the present perfect tense looks like this:
What’s most important here, are the building blocks:
Der Mann ist in das Museum gegangen.
These blocks are needed to build the present perfect tense.
In German, the past participle of the main verb, in the present perfect tense, is called the Partizip 2.
The auxiliary verbs we may use to build the present perfect tense are ‘haben’, and ‘sein’.
As a refresher, here are the conjugation tables for both verbs:
| Pronoun | haben |
|---|---|
| ich | habe |
| du | hast |
| er / sie / es | hat |
| wir | haben |
| ihr | habt |
| Sie / sie | haben |
| Pronoun | sein |
|---|---|
| ich | bin |
| du | bist |
| er / sie / es | ist |
| wir | sind |
| ihr | seid |
| Sie / sie | sind |
We can determine which verb to use in a sentence, by considering these general rules:
‘Sein’ is used under these circumstances:
However, 'haben' may replace 'sein' in circumstances where a direct object is involved: “Ich habe das Fahrrad gefahren”.
‘Haben’ is used under all other circumstances.
In the exercise below, use these rules to determine which auxiliary verb to use.
| Auxiliary Verb | Main Verb |
|---|---|
| sterben | |
| essen | |
| schwimmen | |
| aufstehen | |
| schlafen | |
| einschlafen |
There are three main types of verbs: regular, strong + mixed. Each type requires a different construction to build the past participle.
| Verb | Past Participle |
|---|---|
| lernen | GE + lern + T |
| sagen | GE + sag + T |
| machen | GE + mach + T |
The verb stem of strong verbs may or may not transform in the past participle.
| Verb | Past Participle |
|---|---|
| helfen | GE + holf + EN |
| gehen | GE + gang + EN |
| tragen | GE + trag + EN |
| Verb | Past Participle |
|---|---|
| wissen | GE + wuss + T |
| rennen | GE + rann + T |
| senden | GE + sand + T |
For even more specific verbs, there are special rules. For example:
| Verb | Past Participle |
|---|---|
| einsteigen (strong) | ein + GE + stieg + EN |
| aufräumen (regular) | auf + GE + räum + T |
| abholen (regular) | ab + GE + hol + T |
| Verb | Past Participle |
|---|---|
| studieren (regular) | studier + T |
| besuchen (regular) | besuch + T |
| verstehen (strong) | verstand + EN |
When using the passive voice in the present perfect tense, we need to use the building blocks:
The main sentence structure looks like this:
Whilst the past participle of ‘werden’ is ‘geworden’, the ‘ge’ is omitted when using the passive perfect.
Here are some example sentences, using the active vs. passive voice, in the present perfect tense:
Active past perfect sentence:
Passive present perfect sentence:
Active past perfect sentence:
Passive present perfect sentence:
We've come to the end of the Grammar Tutorial 🎉.
Now let's practice what we've learned, in the next section: Interactive Grammar Exercises.
