Perfekt - The present perfect tense (Detailed)

📌 The Perfekt tense is widely used in spoken language and informal writing to describe actions that have happened in the past. To form the Perfekt, we need two main components: an auxiliary verb (haben/sein) and the Partizip II of the main verb.

The Perfekt tense corresponds to the simple past tense in English but carries a sense of completion.

1. The sentence structure of the Perfekt tense

ℹ️ Structure:

💡 📌 Structure:

Affirmative sentence:
Subject + haben/sein (conjugated for the subject) + ... + Partizip II

Negative sentence:
Subject + haben/sein (conjugated for the subject) + nicht + ... + Partizip II

Question:
(W-Frage) + haben/sein + subject + ... + Partizip II?

Example:

Ich habe gestern ein Buch gelesen.
(Yesterday I read a book.)

Er ist nach Berlin gefahren.
(He went to Berlin.)

Hast du gestern Deutsch gelernt?
(Did you study German yesterday?)

Note:

The auxiliary verb (haben/sein) always takes the second position in the sentence.
The Partizip II always comes at the end of the sentence.

2. Conjugating the main verb in the Partizip II form

2.1. Regular verbs (Regelmäßige Verben)

ℹ️ Structure for forming the Partizip II of regular verbs:

💡 📌 Structure for forming the Partizip II of regular verbs:

ge + Verbstamm + (e)t

Infinitive (Infinitiv)	Partizip II	Meaning
machen	gemacht	to do/make
lernen	gelernt	to learn
spielen	gespielt	to play

Example:

Ich habe Fußball gespielt.
(I played football.)

Er hat Deutsch gelernt.
(He studied German.)

🔹 Regular verbs ending in -t, -d, -fn, -dn, -chm, -tm, -gn

👉 Add an "e" before -t to make pronunciation easier

Infinitive (Infinitiv)	Partizip II	Meaning
arbeiten	gearbeitet	to work
baden	gebadet	to bathe
zeichnen	gezeichnet	to draw

Example:

Er hat in einer Firma gearbeitet.
(He worked at a company.)

Wir haben ein Bild gezeichnet.
(We drew a picture.)

2.2. Irregular verbs (Unregelmäßige Verben)

ℹ️ Irregular verbs

💡

📌 Irregular verbs do not follow the rule above and undergo a change in their stem.

ge + Verbstamm (changed) + en

Infinitive (Infinitiv)	Partizip II	Meaning
gehen	gegangen	to go
kommen	gekommen	to come
trinken	getrunken	to drink
schreiben	geschrieben	to write
sehen	gesehen	to see

ℹ️ Note

💡

There are no rules at all for these verbs, and you also shouldn't look for tricks to learn them because that doesn't work. I've compiled the irregular verbs into a table, and there's a fill-in-the-blank exercise available in the "exercises" section.

Example:

Er ist nach Hause gegangen.
(He went home.)

Ich habe einen Brief geschrieben.
(I wrote a letter.)

3. When to use "sein" and "haben" in the Perfekt?

📌 Most verbs use "haben". But some verbs that express movement or a change of state use "sein".

🔹 Use "haben" when the verb has a direct object (Akkusativ)

Most ordinary verbs, including:

Verbs that express a normal activity (machen, lernen, arbeiten, essen, trinken...).
Verbs that have a direct object (Akkusativobjekt).

Verb	Partizip II	Example
kaufen	gekauft	Ich habe ein Auto gekauft. (I bought a car.)
essen	gegessen	Er hat eine Pizza gegessen. (He ate a pizza.)
lesen	gelesen	Wir haben ein Buch gelesen. (We read a book.)

🔹 Use "sein" when the verb expresses movement or a change of state

Use it with verbs that express movement or a change of state, including:

Verbs that express movement from one place to another (gehen, fahren, fliegen, kommen, reisen...).
Verbs that express a change of state (aufwachen, einschlafen, sterben...).

Verb	Partizip II	Example
gehen	gegangen	Er ist in die Stadt gegangen. (He went into the city.)
kommen	gekommen	Sie ist nach Hause gekommen. (She came home.)
aufstehen	aufgestanden	Ich bin früh aufgestanden. (I got up early.)

🔹 3 special verbs that always go with "sein"

📌 These three special verbs always go with "sein" even though there's no actual movement:

Verb	Partizip II	Meaning
sein	gewesen	was/been
bleiben	geblieben	stayed
werden	geworden	became

Example:

Er ist Arzt geworden.
(He became a doctor.)

Ich bin in Deutschland gewesen.
(I have been to Germany.)

Sie ist zu Hause geblieben.
(She stayed at home.)

🎯 5. Summary

ℹ️ Note

💡

The Perfekt tense is formed with the auxiliary verb "haben" or "sein" + Partizip II.
Partizip II of regular verbs: ge + Verbstamm + (e)t (gespielt, gelernt).
Partizip II of irregular verbs: ge + Verbstamm (changed) + en (gesehen, geschrieben).
Use "haben" with most verbs, but use "sein" with verbs of movement or change of state.
Three special verbs always go with "sein": bleiben, sein, werden.

ℹ️ Exercise

Practice exercise

Apply what you've just learned about advanced Perfekt:

📝 Perfekt exercises - A1

Practice the basic Perfekt structure first, then apply it to the special cases.