We have addressed two different tenses that you can use to talk about the past in German, the Präteritum and the Perfekt (perfect tense). Whereas the Präteritum is used for the past in any form of written language (literature, news, letters), the Perfekt is used for spoken language. When compared to the English past tenses, the German perfect tense is used for both the simple past and the present perfect.

The perfect tense is either formed with the respective form of sein (to be) or haben (to have) and the participle II form of the verb.

sein vs. haben

You can form the perfect tense with either sein or haben. There are some rules which will show you which one to use (see table). Verbs that suggest a change of place occur way more often than verbs that suggest a change of state. Special verbs with sein are very rare, as well. Therefore, look out for verbs that have anything to do with walking, driving, flying, etc., these will be formed with sein.

Sentence Structure

The most important thing about the German perfect tense when it comes to sentence structure is that the participle form moves to the end of the sentence. Between the verb forms (second and last position) can be pretty much everything, a direct object, an indirect object, or an adverbial phrase of time or place.

▪ The subject (Nominativ) is in first position
▪ The form of sein or haben is in second position and participle is in last position, separable verbs do not split up
▪ The objects are placed in between the respective form of sein or haben and the participle.
▪ Questions are formed as usual, finite verb (sein or haben) and subject change each other's place
▪ When it comes to negation, nicht is put after sein or haben in third position