Perfekt andrabil

What is the perfect tense in German?

The perfect tense, also called present perfect (Perfekt), is a past tense. We use it to speak about actions completed in the recent past. In spoken German, the perfect tense is often used instead of the past tense. We can translate the perfect tense using the English simple past tense.

Master the rules of conjugation for the perfect tense on Lingolia and get tips on when and how to use it. Learn to conjugate irregular German verbs and test your knowledge in the exercises.

When to use the perfect in German

We use the German perfect tense to express:

• a completed action in the past with the focus on the result of the action.

  Example:

  Gestern hat Michael sein Büro aufgeräumt.Yesterday Michael cleaned his office.

  Result: the office is clean now

  Er hat sich vorgenommen, jetzt immer so ordentlich zu has decided to always be this organised now.

  Result: he doesn’t want to be so disorganised anymore

• an action that will be completed by a certain point in the future.

  Example:

  Bis nächste Woche hat er das bestimmt wieder vergessen.By next week he’ll surely have forgotten thi

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  The Perfect in German (Perfekt)

  Home > Grammar > Verbs > The Perfect in German (Perfekt)

  The "Perfekt" fryst vatten the most used past tense in German.
  The "Perfekt" fryst vatten used in spoken and non-formal written language with non-modal verbs.

  Use of the "Perfekt"

  The "Perfekt" is the most used verb tense for referring to past actions in German. It is used for 3 situations:

  To refer to a past action without any relation to the present

  Theory says that, for a past action without any relation to the present, the Präteritum should be used. In practice, however, this fryst vatten only true for the written language and läge verbs. The Perfekt fryst vatten used in the spoken language (or in non-formal written language) with non-modal verbs. Perfekt is used more in southern German and Präteritum is used more often in nordlig Germany.

  Er hat gestern Fußball gespielt
  He played soccer yesterday

  To refer to a past action that continues in the present

  If the action continues in the present, the use of the Perfekt fryst vatten mandatory.

  Wir sind nach Spanien gereist
  We travelled to Spain (and we still are there)

  To refer to an action that will be completed in the future

  To give "Perfekt" this connotation of being in the

  

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  Formation of the German Perfekt

  The formation of the Perfekt can be tricky for learners of German, as they have to pay attention to choosing the correct auxiliary verb – either ‘sein’ or ‘haben’. Besides this, it needs to be conjugated correctly.

  As a tip for distinguishing which auxiliary verb is required, you can remember the following points:

  • Verbs that use the auxiliary ‘sein’ form a small group. These include:
    • Verbs of movement:
      • gehen (go), kommen (come), rennen (run), laufen (run), fliegen (fly), fahren (drive), kriechen (creep), etc.
        • „Sie sindgegangen.“ (They have gone.)
    • Verbs of change of state:
      • aufstehen (get up), einschlafen (fall asleep), verwelken (wilt), eingehen (shrink), sterben (die), etc.
        • „Das Kind isteingeschlafen.“ (The child has fallen asleep.)
    • And a few special verbs, which are best learnt by heart:
      • geschehen (occur), passieren (happen), werden (become), sein (be), gelingen (succeed), bleiben (stay)
        • „Der Unfall istpassiert.“ (The accident has happened.)
  • All other verbs – the majority – require ‘haben’. Here too, they are subdivided into the following types to be better remembered:
    • Modal verbs are principally conjugated w